Getting Back Home
by Show-The-Love
Summary: After the Battle at Hogwarts, Hermione goes to Australia to get her parents' memories back. On her way home, though, tragedy strikes.
1. Chapter 1

_Prologue_

_"AVADA KEDAVRA!"_

_"EXPELLIARMUS!"_

_Hermione stared wide eyed as Harry and Voldemort casted their spells toward each other. The red and green clashed in the middle with a loud _Bang._ She squeaked and grasped Ron's hand, and squeezed hard. Hermione kept staring, scared that Harry wouldn't be the one to get out of this, but Voldemort would, and he would never stop spreading terror. Hermione knew that if Voldemort lived, she would probably be the next to die, being muggleborn and Harry's best friend, then it would be Ron. Hermione shook her head slowly, not taking her eyes off of where to two colors collided. Suddenly, Voldemort's wand flew from his hand, and into Harry's, and the green light of the killing curse bounced back towards the evil snake-like man, and he fell. _

_Hermione couldn't stop staring at the dead body that had just fallen, as if she was stuck in some sort of trance. She was pulled out of it as Ron pulled her into a gigantic hug that gave her butterflies in her stomach. She wrapped her arms around Ron's neck and buried her head into his shoulder. Voldemort was dead, Harry and Ron were alive, and they were all safe. Hermione felt tears fall down from her face, and for the first time in a really long time, they weren't from sadness or pain, but for happiness and love. _

_Hermione and Ron pulled away from each other, and got swept into the crowd of people who were celebrating. Hermione and Ron fought through the crowd of people, who were all hugging and shaking hands with each other, and walked into the Great Hall. They had hoped to find Harry there, but had no such luck. Hermione sighed, asking Ron where he could be, and saying that he needed them right now. "No, he doesn't. I think he needs to be on his own right now," Ron had replied, still smiling. Everyone else had started to file in after them. Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and the few Slytherins who had decided to not fight of fight against Voldemort (and there were very few) all sat around with each other, telling stories of each others fights in the battle. Hermione smiled at the unity that had finally began at the school, and was happy to be apart of it. _

_Hermione sat down at one of the tables next to Ron, who was telling everyone about a fight he had won against a Death Eater. Ron looked over and smiled at Hermione, and took her hand in his, and continued on with his story. Everyone at the table looked at the two of them as if they had three heads, but Ron didn't notice, he just kept telling his story. Hermione blushed and smiled, happy to be next to the man of her dreams. _

_After a half an hours worth of stories from everyone, Hermione felt something brush against her back. "I'm here," a familiar voice had whispered, "fallow me out of the Great Hall." Hermione looked around, but there was no one there. Then, Ron pulled her up and out of the Great Hall, and when they got the the hallway outside of it, Harry appeared. Hermione mentally scolded herself for not realizing it was him._

_Harry looked at the both of them, with a small smile on his face. Hermione ran into Harry's arms, and gave him the most gigantic hug she had ever given anyone. "You were brilliant," Hermione whispered, "So brilliant." Harry hugged her back even tighter, and his smile grew wider. Harry felt so overwhelmed by everything, by defeating Voldemort, and everyone thanking and praising him, but he felt so right with his friends by his side. They backed away from each other, and Ron came and hugged Harry tightly too. Hermione saw that they were talking, but had no clue what they were saying, and didn't want to know. Some things should just be shared between you and your best friend._

_Harry smiled at both of his friends, so happy that they were both alive, and happy to be alive. He was ecstatic that they finally realized their feelings for each other, and he was overjoyed that they could have a future, without having to worry about defeating Dark Lords. Harry was just happy that he could finally have a future with his friends, and Ginny, without having to worry about anything._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here's chapter 2, and I hope ya'll like it! Sorry if it's slow moving and not so interesting, as the first couple of chapters will be. **

_**Disclaimer: As much as I dream that I am, I'm not J.k Rowling.**_

Hermione walked up to Ron's room, who had been sharing it, like always, with Harry for the past three months. They had been staying at The Burrow since the Last Battle, and Hermione was happy to be there. Harry and Hermione didn't have anywhere else to go after the Battle, and Mrs. Weasley was happy to let them stay.

"Knock, knock," Hermione said as she opened the door and walked into the bedroom. She smiled to see that Harry and Ron were still asleep in their beds, even though it was 10:00am.

Hermione sighed and walked over to Harry's bed, which was closest to the door and she gently shook his shoulder. "Wake up," Hermione said, shaking him a bit harder. Harry groaned and turned over so that his back was facing Hermione. She rolled her eyes and shook him harder. "Get up!" she said, a little louder and a little more franticly, but Harry still didn't wake up. Hermione ripped the blankets off of him, and shook him harder.

"Alright! Alright! I'm up!" Harry said as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Good. Now, I'm going to go and wake up Ron while you get dressed," Hermione said as she stared to walk over to Ron's bed.

"But, Hermione! I can't change with you in here!" Harry protested.

"I do think that we have been through enough that you can get changed while my bad is turned," Hermione said as she rolled her eyes.

"Alright, alright," Harry grumbled as he walked over to the dresser behind Hermione, "but good luck waking up Ron. He would be able to sleep through an army of Blast-Ended Skrewts were outside attacking someone."

Hermione laughed as she started to shake Ron awake, yet he didn't even budge.

"Told ya'," Harry said.

Hermione shook him violently, but he still didn't budge. She pulled the blankets off of him, and still nothing. Hermione took the pillow from under his head, and hit him with it. Hard. Still nothing. Hermione took out her wand and put a silencing charm on the door so that no one would be able to hear her from outside the room.

"GET-YOUR-LAZY-ARSE-OUT-OF-BED!" Hermione screamed at Ron at the top of her lungs while hitting him with the pillow with every word she said.

"No," Ron mumbled as he turned over and curled up into a ball on his bed.

Hermione took out her wand again and did the _Aguamenti_ spell to pour water all over him, and he still didn't budge.

"I give up, you try," Hermione said to Harry as she slumped down on a chair next to Ron's bed.

"There is one thing that I've always wanted to try to get him up," Harry said with a mischievous grin.

Harry walked over to Ron's bed, and leaned over him, then he licked his finger and put it into Ron's ear, giving him a wet willie.

Ron sat up straight, and tried to jump off the bed but ended up falling off the bed and onto the floor. Hermione and Harry bursted out laughing. Hermione was laughing so hard that she almost fell off her chair. Ron jumped to his feet and glared at Hermione and Harry.

"That's not funny guys," Ron said, still glaring at Hermione and Harry, but they kept laughing.

"Yes, it is," Harry said between gasps of breath while Hermione tried to stop laughing.

Ron continued to glare at them, but he slowly started to smile, and burst out laughing. The three friends were all laughing together, and having a great time, without any worries of evil people who would want to kill all of them. It was rather refreshing for them.

"Well, I have to talk to you guys about something," Hermione said when she finally got control of her breathing and stopped laughing.

"Alright," Harry said as he sat down on the floor next to Hermione, and Ron fallowed suit.

"So, I think it's time for me to go to Australia," Hermione said, with a slight smile on her lips as she thought of seeing her parents again.

"Why?" Harry asked, as Ron looked at him as if he was crazy.

"Because that's where her parents are," Ron said as he rolled his eyes.

"Oh yea, sorry," Harry said with an apologetic smile.

"It's okay," she said with a smile.

"So, when are we leaving?" Ron asked.

"I don't that that there should be a 'we' in that sentence, Ron. I want to go alone," Hermione said. Harry and Ron stared at her disbelievingly. They always did everything together that involved some big gigantic adventure, and Hermione wanting to go alone was kind of unbelievable to the two boys.

"Before you go listing reasons why you should come, I want to list the reasons why you shouldn't. I think that learning that they have a daughter will be over whelming enough without you two being there. I think this is more of a parent-daughter-thing than a parent-daughter-and-daughter's-two-best-friends kind of thing," Hermione said. Harry and Ron knew that she was completely right, but they still wanted to go. What if she couldn't lift the memory charm? She would need them there if she couldn't.

"But, Hermione-"

"No. I want to do this by myself. I know that you guys would love to be there, but I don't think my parents would want you there," Hermione argued

"She's right, Ron," Harry said, knowing that Ron would argue with Hermione until she. Ron sighed, knowing that he should give up and let Hermione go, but he didn't want to let her go to a whole other continent by herself. He knew that she could take care of herself, but he still wanted to go. He also knew that Hermione would never let him go.

"How are you getting there?" Ron asked, trying to change the subject that he would sure as hell come back to.

"I can't apparate that far, and Floo-ing wouldn't work either. It would be painful to Floo that far. I think I'm going to go on an airplane," Hermione said with a nervous glance toward Ron. Ron liked to do most things the wizard way, and she knew that her going up into the air into a huge muggle machine would not sit well with him.

"An airplane? As in one of those gigantic metal capsules that people go inside of and then they go up into the air, and can fall at any moment? You mean those things?" Ron asked franticly. Ron remembered his dad talking about them, and how it was a wonder that they didn't crash more often. Which meant that they crash, and that didn't sit well with Ron at all.

"Ron, there's nothing to worry about, they aren't dangerous. There's like a 1 in 4 chance that it would crash," said Harry as he rolled his eyes, "Plus, she'll have her wand, so she could just apparate if anything happens."

"I think I'll be able to save myself and many others in a crash," Hermione said to Ron as she rolled her eyes.

"That doesn't make it safer," Ron mumbled.

"I'll be fine, Ron," Hermione said with a smile as she reached over a squeezed Ron's hand gently.

"Lunch is ready!" screamed Mrs. Weasley from downstairs.

"Good! I'm starving!" Ron said as he jumped up from the floor and walked over to the door.

"When is he not?" Harry joked as he and Hermione got up and walked to the door after Ron.

XxXxXxX

After lunch, Ron and Hermione had decided to go outside and sit under the big weeping willow tree in The Burrow's yard. They had been siting there and talking about nothing and everything, and were just happy to be in each other's company.

"So, Hermione, about Australia," Ron said, bringing up the subject not-so-subtly, "I still want to come with you."

"No, Ron. This is something I have to do on my own," Hermione said firmly, hoping to end the argument that was about to unfold, but knowing Ron, that wasn't going to happen.

"What if you can't find them? Or what if you do find them, and you can't undo the charm?"

Hermione knew that there was a possibility that she wouldn't be able to undo it, but she didn't want to think about that. She tried to stay positive, even though it was hard to do. It was a very powerful memory charm that she used, probably the strongest anyone had ever seen, and she knew it would be very hard to remove it.

"Don't you think that I've thought about that? I know I can find them, I made sure that I'd be able to, so I'm not worrying about that, but removing the charm? Yea, I'm worried, but I can figure it out. Having you there won't help much, though. Imagine if I arrive there, and take the charm off my parents, and suddenly I introduce you as my boyfriend? First having to learn they have a daughter, then learning that that daughter has a boyfriend is a lot to take in," Hermione said, feeling tears start to form in her eyes.

Ron knew that she was right, but still wanted to be there. He vowed that he would help her with everything, and always be by her side. Hermione might not have known that he did promised to never let anything happen to her, he didn't want to break it. Ron wanted to keep her safe, but Hermione was an independent women, and he respected her even more for that.

"I understand, but an aeoroplane? Those things are a flying death trap of doom!" Ron exclaimed.

"It's an airplane, Ron, and they actually aren't. You have a better chance of crashing a car than a plane. I'll be fine," Hermione said as she reached over to Ron and grabbed his hand. He squeezed her hand gently and sighed.

"I know you'll be fine, just be careful, alright?" Ron said quietly.

"I always am," Hermione said, just as quietly as Ron did.

Ron leaned toward Hermione, and Hermione leaned toward Ron, and when they were about to kiss, they heard to sound of two people coming towards them. Ron groaned and leaned back against the tree as Hermione giggled, and watched as Ginny and Harry walked toward the weeping willow.

"I'm just saying that some brooms aren't as fast as others, and your's is one that isn't as fast as mine," Harry said with a teasing grin as he sat down on the grass next to Hermione, and Ginny sat next to Ron.

Hermione rolled her eyes. _Of coarse they were talking about Quidditch, _Hermione thought, _when are they NOT talking about Quidditch?_

"That's a lie and you know it! I could easily beat you in a race and you know it!" Ginny retaliated, grinning back at him.

"You have a freakin' Nimbus 1000, and I have a Firebolt. Firebolts are so much faster! And I so CAN beat you!" Harry argued

"Guys! They are just brooms!" Hermione yelled at the two of them, who then stared at her as if she were crazy. Hermione looked over at Ron and he, too, was staring at her as if she had suddenly said she had said that she was deeply in love with Voldemort. "What?" Hermione asked, innocently.

"Anyway," Harry said with a teasing glare toward Hermione,"when's this race happening?"

"Tomorrow, after lunch," Ginny said.

"Only if you can actually wake him up before lunch," Hermione joked.

"I think you're confusing me with Ron." Harry said with a chuckle.

Hermione laughed, and Ron joined in, stealing quick glances at Hermione. He wanted to keep talking about Hermione's departure, but he knew it would have to wait.

"I'm joining into this race!" Ron said.

Ginny and Harry looked at each other, then broke out into a fit of laugher. When they looked over, Ron was glaring at both of them. "You were serious?" Harry asked, still chuckling.

Ron grumbled a 'yes,' while Ginny continued to laugh. Hermione just rolled her eyes.

"Alright, alright, you can join in. You can too, Hermione," Harry said.

Then, Ginny laughed even harder. Ron ended up joining in, and soon Harry followed suit. Hermione rolled her eyes, but ended up laughing too. The image of her, Hermione Granger, flying on a broom was rather amusing. Hermione hated flying, and she didn't like Quidditch, either. The only reasons she went to the games at Hogwarts was to support Harry and Ron.

When everyone finally stopped laughing, Ginny suggested that they go swimming in the river that wasn't too far from The Burrow, and they all agreed. After changing into swimming suits, the group walked to the river, and spent the rest of the day splashing and swimming.

**A/N: Again, I hope you liked it. I'm sorry, again, if it wasn't too interesting, but it gets better! I promise! Please remember to review and such!**

**'Bye for now, my loves 3**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello, my loves! Enjoy the new installment of this story that you all have decided to read :)**

_**Disclaimer: Do I look like someone who has given millions of people their childhoods? Nope. That must mean that I'm not J.K Rowling. **_

Hermione watched as Harry, Ginny and Ron mounted their brooms in the middle of the make-shift Quidditch pitch in the Weasleys' back yard. Hermione was sitting down on the grass and watching the trio get ready to race around the pitch. Hermione still didn't see the point of the point of the race, but she still came out to watch, having nothing better to do. She had already packed to leave for Australia the next day, and she was happy to spend the day with her friends before she left for the rest of the month.

The trio of flyers flew into the air in the middle of the pitch, and they floated in the air for a few moments. Then, they pushed forward, zooming around the Quidditch pitch. Harry was in the lead the whole time, but Ginny was always right on his heels. Right before they crossed the finish line, Ginny pushed ahead of Harry, and won the race. Ron was in last the whole time, but he wasn't too far behind.

Hermione smiled when they got to the ground and watched as Ginny jumped up and down with excitement, Harry watching her with a goofy grin on his face, and Ron walking up behind Harry secretly, and tackling him. Hermione laughed as she watched the two boys rolling around and fighting playfully, like puppies who fight when they play with each other. Hermione got up and walked over to her three care-free friends.

"Hey guys," Hermione said when she walked up, "congrats on winning, Gin'."

"Thanks! These two idiots should not not doubt my amazing abilities," Ginny teased.

Harry pushed Ron off of himself, and jumped upward. "FREEDOM!" he screamed, glad to be free from Ron's tackle. Hermione and Ginny laughed at the boys and sat down on the grass next to Ron, and Harry quickly fallowed.

"So, Hermione, are ya' ready to leave?" Ginny asked with a sad smile.

"Yep, got my ticket and I packed yesterday," Hermione answered. She looked over and Harry and Ron and noticed how they both had sad looks on their faces, and were making puppy-dog eyes towards her.

"You're not going, guys. I need to do this on my own." Hermione stated, and Harry and Ron stopped making puppy-dog faces and just scowled at her.

"Hermione _can_ do things on her own!" Ginny said, with a smile toward Hermione, and Hermione nodded.

"We know," Ron said with a sigh, "doesn't mean we don't want to help."

"Ron, that's not exactly doing something on her own," Harry replied.

"Whatever," Ron mumbled under his breath.

"Anyway," Hermione said, "how do you boys feel about getting beaten by Ginny?"

The boys grumbled and droned on about their excuses for loosing as Ginny sat there with a huge grin on her face. The four friends sat their until dark, laughing and talking with each other.

XxXxXxX

"Here we are," Mr. Weasley said sadly as he pulled up the car to the entrance to the airport on the rainy Wednesday in which Hermione was scheduled to leave. Mr. Weasley was sad to see Hermione go, he had come to think of her as a second daughter over the years that she and Ron had been friends. He liked having someone who could talk to him about muggle contraptions, and explain the contraptions to him too.

"Thanks, Mr. Weasley," Hermione said, feeling the tears forming in her eyes already. Ron, Harry, Ginny, Luna and Neville had come to the airport to see her off, and Mr. Weasley had driven them. No one thought it was a good idea to apparate to an airport full of muggles, so they had driven.

Hermione got out of the car, following the rest of the gang who had come to see her leave. Ron had grabbed her medium-sized luggage bag and was leading the group into the airport. Hermione went over to get her luggage onto the airplane and checked in, and walked back to her friends to say goodbye for the month. Before Hermione could say anything, Ginny had run into her and gave her a gigantic, bone-crushing hug that brought both girls to tears.

"I'm going to miss you so much, 'Mione," Ginny whispered into Hermione's ear while they were still hugging.

"I'm going to miss you too. But don't worry, I'll be back before you can miss me," Hermione whispered back with a teary smile.

The two girls shared one more squeeze, and they separated, sniffling and wiping their tears away from their cheeks. Hermione had always wanted a sister growing up, and Ginny was as close to a sister as anyone could get. She had helped Hermione through so much, including her troubles with Ron, and Hermione had helped Ginny through even more, including _her_ troubles with Harry.

"I'll write," Hermione said to Ginny with a smile.

"And I'll write back," Ginny replied.

Hermione chuckled lightly while she moved over and hugged Luna tightly.

"Watch out for the Blander-wrocks," Luna said in her dreamy voice.

"Blander-wrocks?" Hermione asked, curious to what new creature Luna had thought up next.

"They wait for foreigners to arrive in a country, and they follow them around, causing them to have bad luck. The only way to get rid of them is to drink Liquid Luck, but I don't think you have much of that, so just be careful," Luna said, secretly fighting back tears. Luna didn't particularly like crying, and she most defiantly didn't like people knowing she was crying.

"I'll watch out for them," Hermione replied, not bothering to argue with her about the existence of the so-called 'Blander-wrocks.'

Luna ran forward and hugged Hermione tight once more, then backed away, wiping her eyes quickly to hide her tears. Luna wanted to stay happy for Hermione, so she would saver her tears for her pillow.

"Hermione! I'm going to miss you so much!" Neville cried out as he raced Hermione and embraced her tightly.

"And I'll miss you," Hermione said back, and hugged Neville just as tight. Neville had always been amazing friend and person, and Hermione was going to miss him very much.

"Don't forget me!" Harry said after Neville had let go of Hermione. Harry walked forward and wrapped his arms around her, and she wrapped hers around him. Harry lifted her off of the ground a little, so her feet were a few inches off of the ground. Hermione let out a little chuckle as Harry set her back down, but they still didn't let go of each other.

Hermione felt her tears fall down faster as she hugged Harry. She and Harry were best friends, like brother and sister. They had never been away from each other for long, and Hermione knew her heart was going to ache because she won't be able to talk to him everyday.

Harry squinted his eyes shut, not wanting tears to fall. He knew that it was a little childish to cry because his best friend was leaving for a little while, but he couldn't help it. She had left Hogwarts for winter and spring vacations, and he had not cried when she had left, and when they went their separate ways for summer vacation he didn't cry. Maybe it was because they had just been through a war together, or some other reason that Harry didn't know, but Harry felt his tears start to fall, and quickly rushed to wipe them away.

"You better write!" Hermione exclaimed while they were still hugging.

"Every chance I get," Harry said with a chuckle as he backed away.

Hermione looked away from Harry and towards Ron, and felt her heart start to ache already. She hated the thought of being away from him for a month. Ron was looking strait back into her eyes and walking towards her.

"Hey guys, look, a distraction!" Ginny exclaimed as she pointed in the opposite direction.

"Yeah! Let's go and check it out!" Harry said as he walked towards where Ginny had been pointing, and everyone followed.

Hermione laughed at her crazy friends as Ron stood in front of her, looking down into her brown eyes with his perfect blue ones. Hermione jumped up on her tip-toes and wrapped her arms around Ron's neck, and he grabbed Hermione's waist and hugged her tightly.

"I can still come, you know," Ron said sadly as he hugged his girlfriend tighter.

"It's a full flight Ron, you can't, and I wouldn't let you anyway," Hermione whispered.

"I know, but it was worth a shot," Ron said with a chuckle as he pulled back a bit to kiss Hermione on the top of her head. He felt Hermione shake a little bit with laugher. Ron smiled, he loved making her laugh. Ron thought that her laugh was the most amazing sound in the world.

"I'm going to miss you, so much," Hermione said with a sigh.

"And I'll be missing you a million times more," Ron whispered back, knowing that that still didn't show how much he was going to miss her.

Hermione didn't believe if that was possible, because she knew that she was going to miss Ron more than anyone could imagine. She tiled her head up and kissed Ron lightly on the lips, and then backed away from him, looking at her watch.

"I'm a little behind schedule," Hermione said, tears still in her eyes.

Ron just rolled his eyes and kissed her once more.

"Goodbye," Ron said, as she started to walk away,

"Goodbye," Hermione said, and she sent a wave to the rest of the gang.

Ron watched her walk towards some sort of machine that made stairs move downward. He remembered his father talking about it, but Ron couldn't remember their names. He stood planted in his spot until the very tip of her head could no longer be seen, and he turned away and walked out the doors of the airport, already missing Hermione more than she would ever know.

**A/N: If anyone was wondering, yes, I did make up Blander-wrocks. **

**I hope you liked the little bit of Romione fluff!**

**Please review and all that jazz 3**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish I were, I'm not J.K Rowling.**

Hermione walked down Rose Drive, knowing that that was the street that her parents had moved onto. Hermione had made sure to know exactly where her parents had moved to, so that she could find them later on. She walked along the road looking for house number 17. Every time she walked passed a house, Hermione's nerves and excitement rose. She was so nervous that her charm wouldn't be able to be broken, but so excited to finally see her parents again after so long of running around the country, worrying about them and wishing that they were safe.

_13…14…15…_ Hermione counted in her head. She looked ahead, and saw house number 17. It was rather small, with a white fence around it. There was a large back yard with a huge garden, like one that Hermione's mother had planted at her old house, that had been blown to pieces by Death Eaters looking for her parents. As Hermione walked closer, her worries made her more nervous. With each step came doubts that Hermione wouldn't be able to reverse the powerful charm on her parents.

Hermione had sought out Professor Flitwick to help her practice the counter-charm, and he had helped. For more practice, Hermione had went to the Ministry and met with someone specialized in memory charms, and they also gave her a few spells, that she had practiced. Hermione knew that she was as ready as she possibly could be, but that still didn't help with her nerves.

Hermione finally walked up in front of house 17 Rose Drive, and took a deep breath in. _Now or never…_ Hermione thought as she walked up to the front door of the house. Hermione took in another deep breath as she knocked lightly on the door. Hermione heard footsteps from inside the house, getting louder as they came towards the door. The door knob turned, and when the front door opened, Hermione's mother was standing in the doorway. Hermione gasped when she saw her mom, resisting the gigantic urge to run into her arms. Hermione's mother looked at her curiously. They had the same hair and eyes, and she was wondering how the strange teenager could look so much like herself.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" Hermione's mother said.

"I'm looking for Wendell and Monica Wilkins," Hermione said in a small voice.

"Well, I'm Monica. Come on in, and I'll get my husband," she said with a gigantic smile.

Hermione tentatively walked into the house. Hermione closed the door behind her, and looked around. The home was cozy and muggle-ish with nothing cleaning itself, which was different because Hermione had spent the last three month in the Weasley's house. Hermione heard the sound of her parents walking back towards the room Hermione was standing in now. Hermione held her breath. It had been so long since she had seen a picture of her parents, yet alone see them in person. Her parents walked in through a door, fallowed by a small girl, about the age of 2 years old. Hermione sated at the toddler, wondering what she was doing in her parents house.

"Hello," Mr. Wilkins had said, with a slight worried smile on his face.

"H-hi," Hermione stuttered out.

"What can we do for you?" Mr. Wilkins asked, still staring at the girl, wondering how she had the exact same eyes as his wife.

"Well, it's a rather long and complicated story," Hermione said with a chuckle, "but, my name is Hermione Granger, and I'm, well, I'm… your daughter."

Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins started at Hermione as if she had just spouted five heads and the heads were breathing fire, which is understandable because they were just told that they had another daughter.

"No! I'm the daughter!," the small girl who had appeared at the door objected.

"Shush, Hermia," Mrs. Wilkins said, still staring at Hermione.

Hermione stared Hermia, and then it hit Hermione. She had a sister. The thought that her parents could have had a child never crossed Hermione's mind.

"That's impossible. I think I'd remember my own daughter," Mr. Wilkins said, matter-of-factly.

"And I think I'd remember giving birth twice, not just once," Mrs. Wilkins added.

"Actually, you wouldn't remember, and that's where the long and complicated story comes in. Which I suggest you listen to sitting down, because it _is _a long story."

Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins looked at each other, not sure to believe Hermione. Mr. Wilkins was a very skeptical man, and didn't even believe Hermia when she said that she didn't take his tie, yet alone a girl who was saying that she was his daughter.

"Why should we even listen to you?" Mr. Wilkins asked accusingly. He doubted that she was telling the truth, and that she was probably some con artist trying to steal their money.

"Can't you give me the benefit of the doubt? I can tell you so much about you! Like, you," Hermione exclaimed, pointing to her father, "love BBQ, but you always cook the food to much so you never eat it. After cooking it, you'd go out to a BBQ restaurant and order food there, and bring it home and act like you cooked it. And you," Hermione, tears forming in her eyes, pointed to her mother, "love scrap booking, but you never take enough pictures to fill up a whole book. Every so often you'd buy a new one, with the old one still half filled, and put new pictures in the new one. You have about a billion scrap books with the pages half filled. And I bet that if you look at a bunch of them now, the photos will be empty, because I removed myself from the photos, and your memory. Please let me explain how I did it, and why."

Hermione was about to burst into tears. She wanted her parents to believe her so badly, and she had no idea what she would do if they didn't. Hermione looked up into her parents eyes, and saw that they were widened with shock.

"How did you know that the photos where blank?" Mrs. Wilkins asked in a shaky voice.

"Because I did it. I erased my pictures." Hermione said, sounding a lot strong than how she felt.

"How?" Mrs. Wilkins asked.

"It's a long story, like I said before," Hermione answered, "but to but it bluntly, I'm a witch. I used a memory spell on you, so that you wouldn't remember me if bad people came looking for me."

Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins' eyes widened even more. They didn't expect her to say that, even though they had no idea what they'd expect Hermione to say.

"I highly doubt that," Mr. Wilkins said, "there is no such thing."

"I can prove it," Hermione said, pulling out her wand from her back jeans pocket. Hermione pointed it toward a purple vase that had been in her old house.

"_Wingardium Leviosa," _Hermione muttered, and the vase flew into the air. Then, she pointed her wand against the wall, and the vase went speeding toward it, and shattered. Hermione pointed her wand toward the shattered pieces, and muttered, "_Reparo." _The pieces rose into the air and they joined together. The newly repaired vase then went back to it's place on the table.

"Do it again! Do it again!" cried Hermia.

Hermione smiled and pointed her wand upward, and shot up puffs of mist that changed color with each puff of mist.

Hermia walked toward Hermione and tried to reach up and grab the mist, but couldn't reach Hermione's hands, so Hermione bent down and held her wand out, and Hermia grabbed at the mist, but her little fist didn't catch anything.

"Wendell, I wanna listen to her," Mrs. Wilkins whispered to her husband as she watched in wonder as the mist kept floating out of Hermione's wand.

"You can't honestly believe her?" Mr. Wilkins whispered back disbelievingly, watching Hermione and Hermia.

"How could she fake that? She made that ugly vase fly! And break! Then she repaired it! And it flew back to the table!" Mrs. Wilkins exclaimed, still talking in a hushed voice.

"I don't know, but could she really be our daughter?" Mr. Wilkins asked, still not sure if he should believe Hermione, but also not doubting that there was some truth to her story.

"Look, daddy!" Hermia exclaimed as she pointed toward the mist, "it's red! My color!"

"It's lovely," Mr. Wilkins said with a smile toward Hermia.

"I think we want to hear this story," Mrs. Wilkins said to Hermione as she went over to the couch and sat down, fallowed by Mr. Wilkins. Hermione walked over and sat on the couch across from their's, and Hermia sat next to her.

"Okay, I guess I should start with the letter. Seven years ago, when I was eleven years old, a letter arrived, by owl, addressed to me. It was from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and they had accepted me and asked me to come and study how to control my powers…"

Hermione went on, telling the story of all her years at Hogwarts, and what was going on outside of Hogwarts. She told them about Voldemort, and how he wanted to wipe out muggles and muggle borns. Hermione told them everything, but she left out most details from Malfoy Manor, and the Horcrux hunt. Hermione hated thinking about it herself, yet alone talking about it. She told them everything, right up to where they were now.

"So, that brings us to where we are today," Hermione said with a small chuckle.

"Wow," Mrs. Wilkins whispered. She had been hanging off of every word Hermione had said. She felt that the names 'Harry' and 'Ron' were vaguely familiar.

"So now, I have to ask you something. Do you want me to use a spell, that might work, to get your memory back?" Hermione asked hesitantly. She wasn't sure if they would want her to use a spell on her, but a girl could only hope.

"Can we get back to you on that?" Mr. Wilkins asked. He wasn't sure if he wanted someone, daughter or not, going through is brain and picking out memories.

"Sure, but would you like the spell explained first?" Hermione said, hoping to help persuade them.

"I would like that very much," Mrs. Wilkins said, shooting a comforting smile toward Hermione.

"Well, the spell I used on you two was _Obliviate, _which only took away memories that I wanted to take away, which were all the memories that included me in them. The spell I'm going to use is _Momento. _It causes you to remember everything that I made you forget. It won't cause you to forget anything that happened for the two years that you were living here, and you might remember things you've forgotten over time. I think that I've practiced it enough so that it will work," Hermione said, more confidently than she felt.

"It sounds simple enough. Will we remember everything at once?" asked Mrs. Wilkins, wanting to know if Hermione was her daughter sooner than later.

"Some memories will come back quicker than others. They should all be back within the week that I reversed the charm. It may take longer because of how many memories I had made you forget," Hermione answered.

"How many did you make us forget?"

"Seventeen years worth of memories about me," Hermione said with a sad smile.

"Wow," Mr. Wilkins whispered.

"So, you're going to think about it?" Hermione asked with a hopeful smile.

"Of coarse! Where are you staying while your here?" asked Mrs. Wilkins, feeling her motherly instincts kick in.

"A hotel in town. Renald's Inn, I think it's called."

"That old place? It's so dusty and cramped! You shouldn't stay there! You can stay here, in the guest bedroom," Mrs. Wilkins said with a dazzling smile. She loved being a mother, and always mothered other people, weather them being her kids or not.

"You don't have to do that," Hermione replied, already grateful that they listened to her.

"Nonsense! Now, you go and get your bags and check out. Come strait back here, and we'll get you settled it."

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked, looking at Mr. Wilkins, who had been very quiet.

"Yeah," Mr. Wilkins answered with a grin.

"Thank you," Hermione said, and she really meant it. She was so grateful for her parents, who were taking her in even when they weren't sure if she actually was their daughter.

"Yay! 'Ermione gets to stay!" exclaimed Hermia as she clapped her hands.

Hermione giggled, happy to be with her new sister and her parents.

**A/N: Hope ya'll liked it.**

**I just want to explain where I got Momento from. It means Remember in latin. Easy enough.**

**Anyway, please review and all that jazz 3**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Here is the latest installment of Getting Back Home! Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything (except the plot), that all goes to J.K Rowling.**

After Hermione had gone back to Renald's Inn and gotten her bag and Ron's owl, Pig, who was lent to her by the Weasleys so she could send them letters, and she had gone back to 17 Rose Drive. Mrs. Wilkins had showed her to the guest bedroom in their house. The Wilkins had made Hermione feel right at home, which was easy because the moment she saw Mrs. Wilkins, Hermione felt at home. Hermione felt so at home, finally being able to talk to her parents again, and not have to worry about lying about a war or her life in a totally different world.

Hermione walked down the stairs to the kitchen for breakfast the day after she arrived to her parents' house. The smell of bacon and waffles traveled throughout the house. It reminded Hermione when she had went home for break and her mother would make a huge breakfast feast in Hermione's honor.

"How did you sleep," Mrs. Wilkins asked when she saw Hermione standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Wonderfully," Hermione said with a gigantic smile.

"Good. Come and sit down, dear, and I'll get you some breakfast," Mrs. Wilkins said, sending Hermione a smile back.

Hermione sat down at the table, and then noticed that she and Mrs. Wilkins were the only one in the kitchen.

"Is anyone else awake?" Hermione asked. It was around 9:30 am, and Hermione knew that they always woke up early, even on weekends when everyone else would sleep in.

"Wendell went to work, and Hermia won't get up for another half an hour," Mrs. Wilkins answered.

"Oh, Have you-" Hermione quickly cut herself off, not wanting to rush her decision on the spell to get their memory back.

"Have we decided on the memory-thingy?" Mrs. Wilkins finished, still being able to read Hermione's mind just by looking at her face, and smiled happily at Hermione.

Hermione chuckled at the 'memory-thingy' comment. "Yeah, that."

"Wendell wanted to talk to you about that, so I think we should wait until he gets home," Mrs. Wilkins replied while putting waffles onto a plate for Hermione. Mrs. Wilkins didn't actually come to a decision with Mr. Wilkins. They went over the pros and cons in their heads a billion times, and there were so many more pros than cons, but Mr. Wilkins still wasn't sure. He felt as though he should trust Hermione, but also felt that her being a stranger was holding him back from trusting her completely. Hermione felt familiar, like a face you had saw at a party and you can't seem to place where you've seen it before. But Mr. Wilkins, being the skeptic that he is, denied he ever felt that familiar feeling.

Mrs. Wilkins, on the other hand, was all for the spell. She wanted to know if Hermione really was her daughter. Mrs. Wilkins liked Hermione, she seemed like a lovely, smart girl. Hermione looked so much like herself and her husband, and personality wise, she was a split of the both of them. All of what Hermione was saying made sense, and it all clicked. Names sounded vague but familiar to Mrs. Wilkins, as if she had heard them in a dream.

Mrs. Wilkins finished piling Hermione's plate high with food, and set it down in front of her at the table.

"Thanks," Hermione said with a smile.

"You're-"

"!"

"And that'll be Hermia waking up. I'll be right back. COMING DEAR!"

Mrs. Wilkins ran up the stairs, leaving Hermione chuckling lightly, and alone in the kitchen. Hermione looked down at the amazingly delicious looking food in front of her. Hermione picked up her fork and ate some of the waffles. Hermione missed her mom's cooking, and she thought that it was great that the first piece of her mom's cooking that she ate again was waffles, Hermione's favorite food.

"'Ermione! Show me the colors!" Hermione heard Hermia exclaim from the door. Hermione looked toward the door and saw Hermia in Mrs. Wilkins' arms, bouncing up and down with excitement.

"I'll show you something better," Hermione said with a little laugh. She stood up, and took out her wand from her pocket. She pointed it upward, thought of her happiest memory, and said, "_Expecto Patronem!" _A silver mist escaped from the tip of Hermione's wand, and the mist formed a silver otter, that jumped around the room, and around Hermia. Hermia started at it, wide-eyed, and started bouncing even more in Mrs. Wilkins' arms. She was clapping her hands, too. Then, the otter disappeared into a puff of silver mist. Mrs. Wilkins kept staring at the place where the otter had disappeared. She was so surprised to see such a beautiful thing, and she smiled brightly. Mrs. Wilkins was proud of Hermione, for some reason that she couldn't explain.

"That was… amazing," Mrs. Wilkins complimented in awe.

Hermione smiled and felt a blush creep up onto her cheeks. "Thanks."

"Do it again! Do it again!" Hermia roared.

Hermione chuckled at Hermia's excitement, "Maybe later, Hermia. I'm going to eat first."

"And you're going to eat, too," Mrs. Wilkins told Hermia as she sat her down on the baby-chair next to Hermione.

"Will I be able to make pretty colors, too?" Hermia asked Hermione, with a hopeful gleam in her eyes.

Mrs. Wilkins' head shot up. The thought that Hermia may be a wizard, too, had never crossed her mind. Mrs. Wilkins wondered if it was possible, that two children could be wizards. _If Hermione is my child, _Mrs. Wilkins thought, sighing inwardly.

"Maybe, you'll have to wait until your older to find out," Hermione replied. She would love it if Hermia turned out to be a wizard too, even though she knew the chances were really slim, but possible. _Colin and Denis Creevey were both muggleborn, so why not me and Hermia, _Hermione thought with a huge smile.

"I'm going to go and write a letter to everyone back in London. I'll talk to you soon," Hermione said as she put her plate in the sink and walked up the stairs to the guest bedroom she was using.

Hermione picked up her quill and parchment, that she brought to Australia, and started writing her letter.

_Dear everyone,_

_I miss you all so much, even though it has been only a day. I have so much to tell you all already. I found my parents easily, they were living in the same place where I sent them, thankfully. They also had a daughter! I have a sister! Her name is Hermia, and she is the most adorable toddler I've ever met, besides Teddy. _

_My parents are exactly the way I remember them, and I think they believe me when I told them that I'm their daughter. They aren't sure if they want me to do the spell, yet. I think my father isn't too on board with the idea, but my mother is all for it. They have been talking it over for a while, and I think they came to a decision. This might mean I'll be coming home faster than expected! I can't wait until I get to talk to you all face-to-face again. _

_Love,_

_Hermione_

Hermione wanted to make it longer, and say special things to Ron, Harry and Ginny, but she knew that she'd have to wait until later to. She attached the letter to Pig, and sent him off to London.

XxXxXx

A little while later, Mr. Wilkins walked through the door, coming home from work. He had thought about the whole Hermione-daughter-spell thing at work, and he still didn't know what he wanted to do. Mr. Wilkins barely knew Hermione, yet he felt like he did know her. A part of him trusted her, and the other part didn't. Mr. Wilkins knew that his wife was all for the spell, but he still wasn't sure. He kept thinking about what might go wrong, he could forget everything, and Hermione might not even be his daughter. For all he knew, Hermione could be some crazy chick who escaped from an nut-house and could kill his whole family in their sleep. Mr. Wilkins knew that that was very unlikely, and probably not true, but you could never be too careful.

Mr. Wilkins stepped into his house, and looked around. He didn't see Hermia or Hermione, but his wife was sitting down on the couch, waiting for him. She looked up when he walked through the door.

"Hello, honey," she said with a small smile toward her husband.

"Hi," he replied as he leaned down to give her a small peck on the lips and sat down next to her on the couch.

"How was your day?"

"The usual. But I know you want to talk about Hermione," Mr. Wilkins answered with a sigh.

"I do. I believe her. I've spent the day with Hermione, and she seems so familiar, but doesn't. It's a weird feeling. I think we should let her do that memory thing she was talking about."

"I'm still not sure," Mr. Wilkins said hesitantly.

"There's no harm in trying. If she's not our daughter, than the spell won't work, right?"

"I guess so. Maybe…"

"Yes! We should! I believe her, and imagine if she _is_ our daughter, and we abandon her? That would be horrible! We'd miss out on knowing our own daughter!"

"I never really thought about that," Mr. Wilkins replied. She was right, if Hermione did turn out to be their daughter, he wouldn't want to abandon her. "I think we should let her do the spell."

"Great! We should tell Hermione, now! As soon as possible!"

"Sure. Where is she, anyway?" Mr. Wilkins asked as he started to look around the living room for any sign of Hermione or Hermia.

"Outside with Hermia, showing her some spells," Mrs. Wilkins answered with a smile. She was imagining what would happen if Hermia turned out to be a witch too. Mrs. Wilkins would be so proud of her two girls.

Mr. Wilkins got up off of the couch and walked to the back door, and saw Hermia sitting on the grass, clapping her hand as Hermione pointed her wand toward her, and flowers sprouted out from the tip of it. He opened the door and walked out side, Mrs. Wilkins fallowing right behind him.

"Hermione," Mr. Wilkins called from the porch.

"Yes?" Hermione answered, tearing her gaze away from Hermia and toward Mr. Wilkins.

"We want-"

"We want you to do the memory-thinger-ma-bob!" Mrs. Wilkins exclaimed as she interrupted her husband.

Hermione nearly dropped her wand on Hermia's head when she heard what Mrs. Wilkins said. "Really?" Hermione asked with a hopeful smile spreading across her face.

"Really." Mr. Wilkins confirmed, smiling back at Hermione.

Hermione bent down and scooped up Hermia into he arms, and almost ran up the stairs that led to the porch and fallowed her parents into the house. She set Hermia down on the couch and sat down next to her. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins were sitting on the couch across from them.

"So, how does this work again?" Mr. Wilkins asked.

"Well, the spell I'm going to use, _Momento, _will regain any memory I took away from you, which is a lot. You might feel a little light headed to get a head ache, but that's normal," Hermione replied, still unable to wipe her smile off her face.

"Let's do this!" Mrs. Wilkins said excitedly as she jumped up from the couch. Mr. Wilkins fallowed in her lead, and Hermione stood up too.

"Who's first?" Hermione said, still smiling.

"I will!" Mrs. Wilkins exclaimed. She wanted to remember Hermione so badly, and as soon as possible.

Hermione stepped toward Mrs. Wilkins, and held up her wand to her head. She took in a deep, shaky breath. Hermione still wasn't sure if it would work or not, but she hoped with all her heart that it would.

"_Momento,"_ Hermione whispered, rotating her wand to the left. A small blue glow floated out from the tip of Hermione's wand and went toward Mrs. Wilkins' head, and encircled it before going into her ears.

Mrs. Wilkins gasped. Her head began to throb, but was cold. Then, pictures started to flow through her brain. Hermione's third birthday, when she had accidentally dropped Hermione's cake on her husband's head. Hermione, on her tenth Christmas, opening up a book that she and her husband had bought, a huge smile on her face. Taking Hermione to platform 9 3/4, and seeing her get on the train and feeling prouder than she had ever felt for her daughter. Hermione talking about her first year at Hogwarts after coming home for Summer Break, and going on and on about Harry and Ron. She felt tears escape from her eyes as she remembered everything about Hermione.

"Mrs. Wilkins? Are you okay?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"I'm not Mrs. Wilkins… I'm… I'm Jean Granger," she replied as she ran towards Hermione and embraced her in a gigantic hug. Tears kept falling from her eyes, but she could care less. She had her daughter back, and she remembered her life before Australia.

Hermione hugged her mother back, and felt tears escape her own eyes. Hermione was so glad that the spell worked, and that she did it right. She was so glad to have her mother hug her again.

"It-it worked?"

Hermione let go of her mother and looked over toward her father. He had hope in his eyes, wanting with all his heart for it to have worked.

"It did," Mrs. Granger replied, wiping away her tears of happiness.

"Well, do the spell on me!"

Hermione laughed, and pointed her wand toward her father's head. She did the spell again, and the blue glow encircled his head and entered in through his ears.

Mr. Wilkins closed his eyes, feeling the cold chill enter his head. He saw pictures of Hermione when he closed his eyes. Memories started reeling through his head. Memories of holding Hermione for the first time, of teaching her how to ride a bike, of trying to get her to learn softball (which she hated, Hermione had never cared for sports, only books), and Hermione talking to him about a new book she had just finished, or a new fact she had learned. He remembered his life before Australia, and that he wasn't one of the Wilkins, he was a Granger.

Mr. Granger opened his eyes, and saw three pairs of eyes staring back at him, his wife and his two daughters. He felt the happiest he had ever felt, because he finally had his whole family again, even though he didn't know someone was missing before. Mr. Granger walked over to Hermia, and picked her up, then he walked over to Hermione and his wife.

"Hermia, this is your sister," Mr. Granger said, smiling ear-to-ear.

**A/N: Yay! The Granger's are back together! Happy days are here again! Anyway, Review and all that jazz, please!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I wish I was J.K Rowling, but I'm not…**

A few weeks later, the Granger's house was packed up in boxes. Hermione had asked if they wanted to pack using magic, but the Grangers wanted to go through everything in their house and say goodbye to the life they had had in Australia. They wanted to get out of Australia and get back to their old life, Mrs. Granger wanted to see her sister, and Mr. Granger wanted to hug his mother again. Hermia was excited to be going somewhere new, but still didn't understand completely why they were going somewhere new. Hermione was just glad to have her family back, and was happy to be going home to the people she had come to know as her second family.

The Grangers were going to take an airplane to England, and were going to be picked up at the airport by Mrs. and Mr. Weasley, George, Harry, Ginny and Ron. Knowing them, they'd get a gigantic bus that was twice the size they needed, trying to be as muggle-ish as possible, but ending up sticking out like a sour thumb. Hermione had already transported all the packed boxes to their new, or old, house in Hampstead Garden, London. For some reason, their house had survived the war, and it was ready and waiting for the Grangers' return.

Mr. Granger had called the taxi service to get a taxi to drive them to the airport, and even though Hermia and her parents were excited to leave, they were still sad to see the house that they had been living in for two years to be left behind. "Bye house!" Hermia had exclaimed as they watched it disappear in the window of the back of the car.

The Grangers had all gone through security and check-in, and were all ready to get on the airplane. Hermione was imagining seeing all her friends again, and the Grangers were thinking about what Hermione's friends would be like. From everything that she had told them, they seemed like noble and sweet people, and the Grangers were happy for that.

"Flight 108 to London," said the flight attendant over the loudspeaker, telling everyone that it was time to get on their airplane and go home. The Grangers all walked through the gate with gigantic smiles on their faces, happy to be going back home. Hermia was excited to be on an airplane for the first time, and was bouncing up and down in her sister's arms. They were all happy to be going home.

XxXxXx

"Hurry up! Their aeroplane will be landing soon!" exclaimed Ron as he practically ran into the airport to greet Hermione and her family when they got off the airplane.

"It's an _AIR_plane, Ron. And we know you're excited to snog Hermione," Harry replied, rolling his eyes and fallowing Ron into the airport.

"I'm excited to meet her family, finally, and welcome them back," Ron said with his ears turning red with a blush.

"No, you just want to make out with your girlfriend again," Ginny teased Ron.

Ron's whole face was turning red now, but he didn't deny it. He was excited to finally see Hermione again. The group was excited to see her, and finally meet her family. They even got George to even come. It was the first time he had left his room since the Final Battle, and they knew that Hermione would be so pleased to see him there.

The doors opened to the gate, and people came running out, which was weird. Everyone ran in different directions, some screaming. Then, two people and a young girl ran towards the Weasleys, and they were all in tears. The women looked as if she had just had a break down.

"Are-are you t-the W-Weasleys?" the women said between tears.

"Are you Mrs. Granger? Are you okay?" asked Mrs. Weasley, concern etched on every part of her face. Mrs. Granger could only nod, and Mr. Granger stood next to her, with a comforting arm around his wife's shudders. He was white faced, as if he had just seen a ghost. The little girl, who everyone assumed was the adorable Hermia who Hermione had wrote to them about time and time again, was in tears, crying and screaming as if she had just woken up from a nightmare.

"Where's… where's Hermione?" Ron asked worriedly, as he started looking around for Hermione. Mrs. Granger just shook her head and cried even harder.

"Mrs. Granger, can you tell me what happened?" asked Mr. Granger in a soft and comforting tone.

"T-They… they took her! Because… she wouldn't… wouldn't say where the Potter-Potter boy w-was!" Mrs. Granger screamed as she let out another wail and buried her head in her husband's shoulder.

"What?" Harry sputtered out.

Ron stopped looking around for Hermione, and stared at Harry, then Mrs. Granger. Everyone had fallowed suit, and Harry looked so scared and worried. Harry turned white, and looked as if he would burst into tears, thinking about how it was the second time Hermione was getting hurt for him.

"Who took her?" Mr. Weasley asked softly, putting a gentle hand on Mr. Granger's shoulder. Mr. Weasley thought of Hermione as a daughter, and someone kidnapping her seemed crazy. She knew how to protect herself. Mrs. Granger just shook her head, not wanted to remember what had happened.

"I think it's time that we go home, and you can explain everything there," Mr. Weasley said with a forced smile. Mr. and Mrs. Granger nodded and fallowed the Weasleys into the car, but Ron and Harry stayed rooted in their spot, still not believing that Hermione wasn't going to walk through the door.

"What?" Harry sputtered out again.

"She…she's missing…" Ron muttered, still trying to wrap his head around it.

"But… that… that's impossible! She was supposed to be coming home…" Harry muttered back.

Ginny turned around before walking through the airport door, expecting to see Ron and Harry fallowing her, but she saw them standing in the middle of the airport. Ginny sighed and walked over to them. She, too, didn't want to believe that she was somehow taken their strong and amazing Hermione Granger. Ginny slipped her hands into Harry and Ron's hands, and started to drag them away and toward the door. Harry fallowed her, allowing himself to be dragged away, but Ron stayed rooted in his spot.

"Standing here isn't going to bring her back. Standing here isn't going to help us find out what happened," Ginny said softly to Ron. Ron took one final look at the door, wishing for Hermione to walk through it, and fallowed Ginny and Harry to the car.

XxXxXxXx

The huge group of people piled into the Weasley's living room at The Burrow. The three Grangers sat together on one long couch, while everyone else pilled in around them.

"Would you like anything, dears? Coffee? Tea? Food?" Mrs. Weasley asked, trying to keep herself busy so she would be distracted from Hermione. Everyone just shook their heads, still staring at the Grangers, waiting for them to tell everyone what happened on the airplane.

"Mr. Granger, Mrs. Granger, could you tell us what happened?" Mr. Weasley asked, cautiously. He knew that it wasn't some strange kidnapping, for people were running and screaming, and Hermione would be able to easily protect herself.

Mr. Granger nodded and told the story that he wished never happened and wished he could forget.

_XxXxXx_

_"Buckle your seat belts, please. We are getting ready to land, and will be touching down at your destination in about a half an hour," said the flight attendant over the loudspeaker on the airplane._

_Hermione, Hermia, and Mrs. and Mr. Granger all buckled their seat belts again, still with smiles on their faces. Hermione was trying the teach Hermia how to play a card game, but Hermia kept looking at Hermione's cards, not so discretely. Hermione laughed and let Hermia peak at her cards._

_Mr. and Mrs. Granger smiled at their two daughters, happy to see them getting along so nicely. "I'm so glad Hermione came and found us," Mr. Granger whispered to his wife with a huge smile on his face._

_"I believe you were the one who wanted to throw her on the street," Mrs. Granger whispered back, with a teasing smile._

_"But that was when I couldn't remember her. Now I don't want her to leave," Mr. Granger replied, still smiling._

_Then, there were three loud cracks, one after the other after the other, and the airplane shook a little. People at the front of the airplane screamed. The Grangers, except for Hermia who thought it was another game, looked at each other with worry. _

_Then, Mr. Granger saw three people walk toward their part of the airplane, looking through the rows. They were wearing black cloaks, with white masks on that looked like skulls. They looked like creepy characters that one would find in a nightmare. The looked down their row, and stopped. _

_"You!" The closets one screamed while pointing a wand in Hermione's face. She was sitting in the isle seat, and dangerously close to the cloaked figures._

_"What do you want?" Hermione said, more strongly than she felt._

_"Where is Potter?" One of the cloaked people asked harshly._

_"The war is over! Why does it matter?" Hermione asked, just as harshly._

_"To avenge the Dark Lord! Where is he?" The closest one asked._

_"I'm not telling you," Hermione replied, stubbornly._

_"Would you tell us if we used a little spell on this sweet little angel?" The third one asked, pointing it's wand at Hermia._

_"Why would I? I don't know these people, I just met them on the flight," Hermione replied calmly. _

_Hermia looked at the wand in her face, and started crying. "Shhh, it's okay," Mrs. Granger soothed, taking Hermia into her arms, and watched the scene play out in front of her other daughter._

_"What if we used it on you?" _

_Before Hermione could pull out her own wand, she felt a huge, familiar pain seep into her body. It flew through her veins and bones, making her scream out in pain. _

_"Ready to tell us, now?" _

_Hermione shook her head. She had been through this before, she could hold through, like in Malfoy Manor._

_"CRUCIO!"_

_Hermione felt the pain again, but this time, she didn't scream. She only screamed and cried inwardly, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of hearing her pain._

_"Still don't want to tell us? Fine, then. We'll take you with us," The first cloaked monster said with a laugh, grabbing onto Hermione's arm, and aparating with a loud crack. _

_XxXxXx_

Everyone looked around at each other, realizing what it meant. Skull masks and black cloaks were the dress of Death Eaters, and they wanted to avenge Voldemort.

"It's all my fault…" Harry mumbled, turning white.

"What do you mean?" asked Mr. Granger.

"I-I'm Harry Potter. The boy they wanted…" Harry replied, "If some Death Eater wannabes are looking for me, I need to leave."

"Oh no your not. Then Herm- then she would have stood up to those creepy guys for nothing!" Mrs. Granger exclaimed, not wanting to say Hermione's name.

"I can't let all of you risk your lives for me… again!" Harry exclaimed.

"Yes you can, and we will," Mr. Weasley replied.

"I just realized, we never introduced ourselves to you!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, trying to change the subject.

"That's Ron," Mrs. Weasley said, pointing to Ron, "and Harry, Ginny, and George. I'm Molly, and this is my husband, Arthur."

"I'm Stephen, and my wife, Jen, and our daughter Hermia. We're kind of… um, traumatized, I guess, after today, so we're going to go home," Mr. Granger replied with a shaky smile.

"Why don't you stay here? We'll find room for you!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. Having a full house kept her distracted, and she would be happy for a distraction right about now.

"No, no, that's alright," Mrs. Granger said, as she picked up Hermia and walked out the door.

"Will we be able to borrow your car?" Mr. Granger asked.

"Sure," Mr. Weasley replied, handing him the keys and watching the Grangers walk out of the house.

"We have to find her," Ron said, speaking for the first time since they were at the airport.

"We will, Ron," Ginny said, grabbing Ron's hand for comfort, which was all Ginny could think to do to help Ron at the moment.

**A/N: Dang! Things are heating up! **

**Please Review and all that jazz **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: ***PLEASE READ*** **

**Okay, so this chapter is of Hermione being held captive. She goes through a lot, and it's really harsh. I'm warning you in advance, because even the first two paragraphs are kinda bad. If anything is too much, please stop reading. My feelings won't be hurt! I'm going to put this up with every chapter with Hermione and her captors, so ya'll know what your about to be reading.**

**Disclaimer: If I was J.K Rowling I'd be rolling (don't you love a good pun?) in money, which I'm not.**

Hermione felt the suffocating feeling of apparation. It still didn't end after a few seconds, which was unusual. It made Hermione realize that they were going somewhere far away, which isn't saying much because she was on an airplane in the middle of the air when the Death Eaters captured her. Hermione was starting to feel sick, and when she finally did touch hard land, her knees buckled and she fell to the floor. Her stomach was in knots and her head was reeling. Hermione bent over and threw up the disgusting airplane food she had eaten earlier.

"Get up, you disgusting mudblood," sneered one of the Death Eaters who had taken Hermione. The Death Eater's voice was one of a man's that Hermione didn't recognize. He grabbed Hermione's arm tightly and roughly pulled her up from the ground, almost making her go airborne because of the force he used. His grip became tighter and he started to twist his hand around her arm, pulling her skin with his hand, and causing her to scream in pain. Hermione could already feel a bruise forming on her arm. "Can't take a little pain?" he asked as he squeezed her arm even more. Hermione kept screaming, hoping to distract her three captors from the fact that she still had her wand.

"Where are we putting her?" asked another Death Eater. Hermione felt like she recognized the feminine voice, but chose to ignore it, because all the Death Eaters were put into Azkaban, and she didn't want to think about there being a mass prison escape. The Death Eater turned around to face Hermione and the man who was still grasping her arm.

"I think… the left dungeon. Is anyone in there?" the first Death Eater replied, still gripping Hermione's arm.

"Nope, I don't think so," the second Death Eater replied, as she started walking down the long hallway. The first Death Eater, who was holding onto Hermione, fallowed, and the third one, who had not spoke yet, fell close behind.

Hermione looked around as her eyes adjusted to her dark and damp surroundings. She saw that the whole hallway was made of grey limestone. The floor, the walls, the ceiling, everything. The walls curved toward the top, making the celling looking like a dome of stone. There was a torch lit on fire that was connected to the wall every few feet, giving the hallway a bit of light, though not much. Hermione shivered, realizing how cold it was, even though it was lit with fire.

"Wait," said the Death Eater in the front of the line, stopping abruptly at a fork in the hallway. Hermione and the Death Eater that was grabbing Hermione's arm slightly bumped into the Death Eater who had stopped.

"What? Can't we just put her in the dungeon and be done with it?" asked the Death Eater behind Hermione. He had spoke for the first time, and his voice sounded extremely familiar to Hermione. Hermione racked her brain for a face to match the voice, but she couldn't remember. Maybe it was because of the shock of her situation, or the pain in her arm, or the pain still aching in her bones from the Cruciatus Curse that was used on her on the plane, but Hermione felt her brain begin to fog up, and she could barely keep her thoughts straight. It was a very strange feeling for Hermione.

"No… how 'bout we give the little mudblood a little preview of what to expect on her permanent stay here," the girl Death Eater said. Hermione held back a groan when she heard this. She thought that they _would_ just put her in the dungeon and be done with her, but apparently not. Hermione closed her eyes tight, realizing that she should prepare herself for a whole lot of pain.

The Death Eater holding Hermione's arm with a grip that would put the strongest man in the world to shame started laughing, but it sounded more like an evil, maniacal laugh that a only a villain in a cartoon movie would have. "I like the way you think," he replied, letting go of Hermione's arm. Hermione was about to breathe a sigh of relief to be free of his grip when the girl in the front of the line pulled out her wand and pointed it right into her face. Hermione squinted her eyes shut, not wanting to look at the wand that was about to cause her a whole lot of pain.

"_CRUCIO!"_ screamed the girl, and Hermione fell to the ground. She curled herself into a ball, in hope that it would stop the pain that was causing her to scream. Hermione's screams bounced off of the stone walls, causing her to hear her own screams of pain more than once. It made the stone hallway even more creepy and eerier than it was before.

The three Death Eaters started laughing at Hermione's pain. Hermione wanted to be able to stop screaming so that they wouldn't have the satisfaction of seeing her lying on the floor and being weak because of them, but she couldn't. It was too much pain. Then, Hermione felt someone kick her back. Hard. She heard them laughing harder while Hermione screamed and groaned over the new pain in her back. Then, someone stomped down on her ankle. Hermione felt a stab of agony as they pressed down harder. She felt her ankle breaking every second that they crushed their foot harder down. Hermione bit her bottom lip, trying to prevent herself from crying out with agony. She tasted blood on her lip from biting so hard, but ignored it, still not wanting to give who-ever was crushing her ankle any self-satisfaction. Hermione finally felt the pressure on her ankle let up until the person wasn't standing on her ankle anymore.

Then, someone had grabbed Hermione's arm, and lifted her up off the ground roughly. She almost collapsed onto the ground again, put forced herself to keep standing as to not give her captors the enjoyment of watching her crumble at their feet. The grip on her arm tightened again, but on the other arm this time, and she, again, could feel a bruise forming. The man who was grasping Hermione pulled her forward, and Hermione started limping down the hall again, trying to stop whimpering every time she stepped on her injured ankle.

They finally stopped in front of a huge metal door. It had a place where you could pull away a part of the metal so that you could look into the room through a small, rectangle opening. Hermione noticed that there wasn't a door handle or door knob. Hermione began to worry, wondering if she would ever see the light of day again.

The women Death Eater pulled out her wand and pointed it toward the door. If she said a spell or used a non-verbal one, Hermione didn't know. She was in too much pain to pay attention to anything anyone but herself was doing. The metal door swung open with a loud and eery creak, revealing Hermione's prison. Before Hermione could even look inside the door and into the room, she was literally thrown against the farthest wall with so much force that she couldn't even try to slow down her momentum. She smashed into the wall with a loud _crack,_ and crumbled to the floor with a scream that echoed in the room. Hermione felt pain everywhere in her body, but it was unbearable and excruciating in her head. The kind of pain that made her want to get down on her knees and beg for death. Hermione reached up a shaky and pale hand to touch her head and try to see if the damage was too bad. Hermione screamed again when what she touched wasn't hard like a skull or normal head, but soft and mushy like a brain. She brought her hand away quickly, and saw that it was covered in her own red, sticky blood, strait from her own organ. The last thing Hermione remembered before passing out was one of the Death Eater's masked face coming towards her with their wand pointed out toward her head, and laughter, lots and lots of laughter.

**A/N: What did I tell you? Kinda bad… wow my brain is a messed up place…**

**Anyway! Please, review and all that jazz! I really want to know what you guys thought of this chapter**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: This is a chapter with Hermione and her captors, so again, if it's too much, I apologize. **

**Disclaimer: I will only be J.K Rowling in my dreams**

Hermione woke up with a huge ringing in her head, but not as much pain as she had when she last remembered begin awake. Her ankle was still hurting, but it wasn't the sharp, continuous pain like before, instead the agony came whenever she moved her leg the wrong way. She groaned as she tried to sit upward off of the cold stone floor, only to be greeted with a splitting headache. She groaned again, and laid back down, putting her head down on the cold floor, hoping to soothe her pain. Hermione remembered her cracked skull, and realized that she should probably check if it was still all gross, or if it was magically patched up by someone. Hermione raised a weak and shaky hand to the top of her head, which took more energy than it should have, and touched the place where he wound would be. The gigantic cut had been sown shut, put the stitches were done messily. Someone had used a healing charm to stitch up her wound, but it wasn't done properly, but she still mentally thanked whoever tried, making her feel just a little better.

Hermione, for the first time, looked around her dark and dreary prison. It had four walls that were made of grey limestone stone, like the hallway, with one torch lit, giving her some sort of light, but not much. Hermione shivered, realizing just how cold it was in the stone chamber. There were no windows, so Hermione didn't know if it was day or night. She hoped with all her heart that she would be able to go outside again. To feel a nice breeze, to see sunlight, to breath in fresh air and not the humid, mucky air that she breathed in. She tried to stay positive by thinking about how Ron and Harry were trying to find her, and all the Weasleys who work in the Ministry were doing all they could. Hermione knew it would take some time, but she couldn't stop the thoughts of her being stuck in the room forever from sneaking into her head.

Then, Hermione remembered her wand. She remembered that her three evil captors had dimwittedly forgotten to take the smartest-witch-of-her-age's wand. She smiled slightly as she pulled it out of her left boot, happy to see that it was still there. Hermione tried to apparate out of the dungeon, but found out that they had put up spells and charms to stop someone from apparating out of the dungeon, like Hogwarts. She tried opening the door the muggle way, even though she knew it would be locked. Then, she tried using all the unlocking spells that she knew, with no luck. Hermione tried to use difficult spells that would make the walls around her explode, like _Reducto,_ and they didn't work. Hermione tried everything in her power to get herself out of the dungeon, but everything she tried didn't work. Whoever had made the dungeon or put the spells around it had known what they were doing, because Hermione couldn't get out.

Hermione backed up against the wall furthest from the door and slid down to the ground in defeat. She put her head in her hands, with her hands on her knees, trying to think of a way out, a way to save herself from her immoral captors who wouldn't hesitate to cause her pain, or kill her. She thought of waiting until someone came to her prison and cursing them, but realized that if overpowered one, there were probably many more Death Eaters who would be waiting to overpower her. She went over scenario after scenario in her head, trying to figure out how she could escape without getting killed, yet every single scenario that she thought of ended up with her being hurt badly in the end. Then, Hermione remembered one thing she learned in Dumbledore's Army: Patronuses. She could conjure a Patronus, then she could send a message to the Weasleys, or Kingsley, the Minister of Magic, at the Ministry.

Hermione decided to send her Patronus, first, to the Weasleys. She wanted them to know that she was alright, but injured and still in huge danger. She planned on telling them all that she knew, which, sadly, wasn't much. Then, she would send one to her parents and sister, telling them not to worry, that she would make it out alive, and that she see them again. Lastly, she would send one to Kingsley, for he was now the Minister of Magic and would know what to do.

Hermione stood up, but her knees buckled on her first attempt, and she fell to the cold, stone floor. She tried standing again, and succeeded, even though her knees were still wobbly and her legs were killing her. Hermione lifted up her arm and pointed her wand toward the metal door in front of her. . It took her a while to think of a happy enough memory, because she wasn't in the best place to be happy. Hermione thought of right after she did the spell on her parents, and she felt at home again. How she, her parents, and Hermia had all sat around, laughing and catching up, and then having dinner for the first time as a real family. She smiled, remembering how Hermia had 'accidentally' thrown some of her peas at Mr. Granger. Hermione chuckled lightly, then whispered, "_Expecto Patronum ad Burrow."_ Hermione's smile grew even wider when she saw her small, silver otter looking up her after materializing from light, silver mist that seeped out from the tip of her wand. Hermione took a deep breath in, and spoke to her tiny otter in a small, clear voice, so the Weasleys would be able to hear her loud and clear.

"I'm going to make this quick. I'm fine, at the moment. I was captured by three Death Eaters and they are probably still here somewhere watching me. I'm in some sort of stone labyrinth with lots and lots of dungeons and hallways, and I'm in a stone chamber called the Left Dungeon. I don't know where I am, exactly, but please-"

Hermione broke off her rant when she heard the bronze door creaking as it opened to reveal one of the Death Eaters entering the dungeon. The Death Eater hesitated with surprise when he saw that Hermione had her wand, and was casting her Patronus to contact someone. "Why you dirty mudblood. CRUCIO," screamed the Death Eater. Hermione realized it was the one who had given her the massive bruise on her arm in the shape of a hand and fingers. "GO! NOW!" Hermione yelled to her Patronus, but before it could go off to the Weasleys, it picked up her tortured scream as she crumbled to the stone floor, which Hermione was sure the Weasleys would end up hearing when the patronus arrived at The Burrow.

Hermione grasped her wand and pointed it toward the man. She barely had any strength to hold up her wand, but managed to utter, _"Sectumsempra!"_ It was the only spell she knew that would do enough damage to the murderous man in front of her. Even though it was Dark Magic, Hermione was glad she knew it, knowing that it would hurt the horrible person in front of her just as much as he had hurt her. She didn't EVER want to use ant of the Unforgivable Curses, no matter how much trouble she was in.

The Death Eater jumped out of the way of Hermione's curse, much to her dismay.

_"Stupify!" _Hermione screamed with more energy than she actually had. The Death Eater, not being quick enough, flew into the air and slammed into one of the four walls of Hermione's prison, and fell to the floor, stunned. She took her chance to run. She pulled herself off the ground and sprinted out of the cold, dark dungeon as fast as her aching legs would take her. Hermione felt her adrenaline kick in as she ran faster, down hallway after hallway. She tried to retrace her and the Death Eaters steps from when she was brought to the dungeon, but every hallway and door looked exactly the same. Hermione kept running, but was running out of energy. When she finally stopped running and started walking, Hermione noticed the echoing footsteps that had been fallowing her.

Hermione tried to start running again, and pushed her legs harder than ever, but it was no use. She didn't have enough energy. Her legs were aching and her throat was on fire, and she just wasn't fast enough. Whoever was running after Hermione quickly caught up to her. They grabbed her by the neck and pushed her into the wall. Then, they held her up off of the ground only by the tight grip on her neck. Hermione began to feel woozy and faint, and she clawed at the hand that was around her neck, begging to let go, begging for air. The hand around her neck grew tighter and tighter, cutting off her air more and more, until she couldn't breath at all. Hermione kept clawing at the hand, until she had no energy left in her, at all. Hermione gave up, and accepted defeat.

"You think it would be _that _easy? You could whip out your wand then run away?" the Death Eater taunted, his grip on Hermione began to weaken, and he threw her to the floor. "You think you could just stun me? You think I'm not a good enough wizard to get out of a silly little stun?" He grabbed Hermione by the arm and threw her against the wall with a loud _thud. _

Hermione groaned, and tried to lift up her arm, which held her wand, and mutter any spell that could help her. Before she could, the Death Eater kicked her hand and sent her wand soaring down the hallway. Hermione felt a stabbing pain in her hand where the Death Eater had kicked her. Then, the Death Eater kicked her stomach and abdomen, and pain seared all through her body. She felt her ribs cracking and she cringed with each kick that her attacker sent her way.

"Brightest witch of her age, huh? Not where I'm standing, you're not," he jeered as he kicked her one last time. "Get up, mudblood," he ordered as he grabbed Hermione's arm and flung her upward to her feet. Hermione's knees buckled and she fell to the floor again, landing on her knees. "I said, GET UP!" he screamed as he grabbed her and threw her down the hallway toward the way they came. Hermione fell face first into the stone floor, feeling blood pour down from her nose and cuts forming all over her face. "That's not getting up," exclaimed her assailant as he walked down the hallway to where Hermione laid on the floor. Hermione, not wanting to go through anymore pain, tried to lift herself off of the floor. It took some time, but she finally got to her feet, still groaning from pain. The Death Eater grabbed her arm, again, and violently pushed her down the hall, and back toward her prison. He pushed her into the room, and closed the door after himself.

"So, tell me, where is the Potter boy hiding?" he asked, though it didn't sound like a question, more like a demand.

"I-I d-don't k-know," Hermione stuttered out. There was no way she would tell him anything about Harry, or the Order, or the Ministry.

"That's a lie. Every time you lie, expect a little zap from my wand. Now, I'll ask you again, where is he?" He threatened, while pointing his wand into Hermione's face.

"I told you! I don't-" Hermione's answer was interrupted to getting an electric shock that soared through her body. She screamed, feeling as if she was sitting in some sort of electric chair.

"Stop lying!" He screamed, shocking her once more.

"I'm not! I-I was gone. For a m-m-month! A-a-and t-then y-you a-all came a-and t-t-took me! I didn't get to see him!" Hermione stuttered out.

"That's a damn lie and you know it!" he yelled, shocking Hermione again. Her screams echoed around the stone room.

"How 'bout you tell me about the Order? Where's the new Headquarters?" He demanded to know.

"P-Please! I don't know!" Hermione pleaded. The Death Eater placed the tip of his wand on Hermione's arm, and felt heat escape from the wand. She tried to jerk her arm away, but he grabbed her arm tightly with the hand that wasn't holding the wand, keeping her arm on the wand. Hermione felt the heat from the wand escalate, until it was unbearably hot. She felt a burn start to form on her arm, and she held back her screams by biting on her already raw lip. Then, he moved the wand down her arm, placing burn after burn on her whole arm.

"Give me names of the Order, and I'll stop," he compromised, making the wand burn even hotter.

"NEVER!" Hermione yelled with more confidence and bravery than she had. Hermione would never, ever sell out the people she though of as family, and she thought that it was funny how this evil, murderous man thought that she would.

"For the Brightest-Witch-of-Her-Age, you really are dumb." He insulted, and pressed the wand harder against her bare arm.

"And you're just a wanna-be Death Eater who will never live up to the real Death Eaters like the Malfoys," Hermione retaliated. She had no idea what made her compare her captor to the Malfoys, or call him a wanna-be Death Eater. Then, she saw a glimpse of a hand coming toward her cheek, and felt a strong force come down on her face. The loud sound of the slap echoed throughout the room, and Hermione could already feel the hand-shaped bruise forming on her face.

"The Malfoys are stupid cowards who didn't deserve the respect of the greatest wizard that there ever was," the Death Eater said coldly.

"Dumbledore was the greatest wizard there ever was! Stop trying to kid yourself with your 'Voldemort-is-amazing' crap," Hermione retaliated, not knowing what was giving her the confidence to fight back.

Hermione felt the Death Eater kick her in the stomach again, and she felt the wind get knocked out of her. She heard the Death Eater's footsteps walking toward the metal door to leave the dungeon.

"Hurting me isn't going to make Voldemort being a better wizard true!" Hermione yelled after him as the door shut, and she was left alone in the dark and eery prison.

**A/N: Poor Hermione! We get to see the Weasleys next chapter! Review and all that jazz, please!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: This chapter doesn't have Hermione and her captors stuff in it. We get to learn about how the Weasley's are handling themselves. Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I wish I was J.K Rowling...**

Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen, busing herself with making breakfast. Ginny and Mr. Weasley were also in the kitchen, also trying to busy themselves by helping to make tea, coffee and some toast for everyone who was in The Burrow. They worked together in silence, but not an awkward silence, a comforting silence that Ginny, Arthur, and Molly needed. Ginny poured herself some tea and sat down at the table, taking a sip of her hot tea every once in a while. Mr. Weasley leaning with his back against the counter, watching the door, naively expecting Hermione to walk through the door any minute. Mrs. Weasley was walking all around the kitchen, putting different ingredients in different places and using cleaning spells wherever needed.

Then, a silver otter entered through the open kitchen door. Ginny jumped up off of her seat, spilling her hot tea all over the old, wood table. She had immediately recognizing Hermione's Patronus, and was literally jumping up and down with excitement. "MOM! DAD!" Ginny exclaimed as the otter stopped moving right over the kitchen table where Ginny had just vacated and spilled her tea. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley turned around to look at the Patronus, just in time to see it open it's mouth and speak in Hermione's voice.

"_I'm going to make this quick. I'm fine, at the moment. I was captured by three Death Eaters and they are probably still here somewhere. I'm in some sort of stone labyrinth with many dungeons and hallways, and I'm in one called the Left Dungeon. I don't know where I am, exactly, but please-"_

Ginny stared at the patronus that had not yet disappeared. "PLEASE WHAT?" Ginny screamed at the otter, but it opened it's mouth again. It made a creaking noise that filled the kitchen with a creepy echo. Then, the otter talked in a different voice, a deeper and manly voice that Ginny had never heard before, _"Why you dirty little mudblood, CRUCIO!" _Ginny felt as if time had stopped. She felt his lower lids start to sting with tears that were about to fall. Ginny had thought about horribly bad things that they were doing to Hermione, and now her worst nightmares were true.

_"GO! NOW!" _the otter screamed in Hermione's voice, and a mili-seconds later, Hermione's tortured screams of agony and pain escaped the Patronus, ringing all through the house. Then, Hermione's little silver otter dissapeared, leaving the Weasleys bewildered and frightened for Hermione.

Ginny stared at where the Patronus had once been, not believing that she had heard Hermione's voice again, something she was wishing with all her heart, but ended up hearing her screams of torture. Ginny felt the tears that were stinging his eyes begin to fall as she started to think about what Hermione had been going through for the past few days. Ginny wished with all her heart that Hermione would be able to come home safely.

Ginny started thinking about the mystery man pulling out his wand and torturing her friend, and her tears fell faster. Her thoughts moved to Hermione's pained face as she screamed, and the mystery man laughing as he watched her squirm on the floor, crying out in pain and looking from help from anyone who would give it to her. Ginny kept thinking of Hermione's assailants torturing her, over and over again. The images of Hermione laying down in a dark dungeon, like the ones at Hogwarts, with blood surrounding her, slowly dying. Ginny kept imagining images of Hermione being killed in all different ways.

Ginny started having trouble breathing with every image that came into her head. She had started to wheeze and grasp her throat, feeling it start to burn from her trying so hard to get more air into her lungs. Ginny started to feel very faint, and she got 'tunnel vision,' making her feel like she was looking through a long tunnel. Then, her chest starting burning, like her throat was.

"Ginny? GINNY? Are you alright?" Mrs. Weasley asked frantically as Ginny kept gasping for breath, finding it even harder to breath.

Mr. Weasley ran over to Ginny and put a gentle hand on her shoulder, and looked into her face. "Gin, I'm going to apparate you to St. Mungo's, okay?" Ginny just nodded and felt the small amount of air that was in her lungs disappear as Mr. Weasley side-apparated Harry to St. Mungo's hospital.

XxXxX

Ginny was now lying in a hospital bed, which she thought was completely unnecessary. They were keeping her over-night, which Ginny also thought was pointless. Ginny had had a panic attack from hearing Hermione's screams and imagining her dying. Ginny had come to believe that she would never see Hermione again, and that she would die in that dudgeon, or already was dead, like how she imagined before she came to St. Mungo's with her father. She began to think that she would never see Hermione again, never hug her, never see her smile, and never be able to embarrass her in front of Ron, ever again. She didn't tell anyone about these thoughts, though, because she knew how everyone would react. They would deny it, say to 'look on the bright side,' but then they'd leave and be by themselves for a while and would begin to think the same thing. Ginny didn't want anyone else to lose hope, even though she thought that there was no hope of finding Hermione alive.

Then, the door to her room in St. Mungo's burst open, and in came Harry, red in the face and breathing heavily, as if he had run all the way to St. Mungo's instead of apparating. He ran up to her bed and grasped her hand tightly. "Ginny! Are you okay? What happened? Mr. Weasley wouldn't tell me anything!" Harry exclaimed as he pulled the chair that was next to Ginny's bed over to himself and sat down, leaning in toward Ginny.

Ginny wasn't sure if she should tell him about Hermione contacting them, and hearing her screams, then having a panic attack not only two seconds after Hermione's otter disappeared. "I'm fine… just a… uh panic attack. Under a lot of stress, you know?" Ginny replied with a small smile. She really didn't want to worry Harry anymore than how much he was already worried. He didn't have to know that his thoughts of her being tortured again were now confirmed.

"Way too much stress, don't even get me started on that. What brought it on?" Harry asked with a sigh. Harry was tired, and stressed, and frustrated. He had been out with the Order on most nights, looking at old Death Eater hideouts in hopes that that was where Hermione was, with no luck. It had been three days since Hermione was kidnapped, and they don't have the slightest idea about where she was.

"No one told you?" Ginny asked uncomfortably, she really didn't want to tell Harry about what she and her parents had heard.

"No, didn't I tell you that? What are you hiding?" Harry asked skeptically.

"Erm… well, there was a patronus message this mourning. Everyone was asleep, and me and my parents were the only one's in the kitchen… so we were the only one who heard it." Ginny replied nervously, trying to put off telling Harry for as much time as possible.

"And? Who's was it?" Harry said, starting to get a little excited. _What if it's a hint about Hermione? What if the Order had found something,_ Harry thought, _if it was the Order, they would have told me… _

"Harry… it was… it was an otter," Ginny replied hesitantly.

"WHAT? Hermione sent a patronus? What happened? Why didn't anyone tell me, or Ron, or anyone?" Harry exclaimed as he stood up and started pacing in front of Ginny's bed.

"Harry, I think you should sit down," Ginny whispered as she patted the bed, welcoming him to sit down on the bed next to her. Harry walked over and sat on the edge of Ginny's bed, and Ginny grabbed his hand. Ginny looked down at her lap, and stared there as she told Harry about Hermione's Patronus.

"Harry… I'm not repeating this to anyone else. It was hard to go through once, yet alone talk about it to another person. The otter had arrived, and it opened it's mouth and spoke in Hermione's voice. She said that she was safe, for now, and that she was being kept in some dungeon, and that everything was made of stone. Then, there was a creepy creak. Like some sort of door was opening. It echoed… and the sound traveled all around the kitchen. It was the creepiest noise I had ever heard.

"Then, there was another voice. A man's that I didn't recognize, but I'm not sure if Mom or Dad recognized it. He said… he…," Ginny had to stop telling the story as she felt tears start to fall from her eyes again. She kept looking downward, into her lap, not wanting to see Harry's face. Ginny sniffled quietly, and wiped her eyes. "He came in, and said, 'You dirty mudblood.' Then… he did a spell. Before he even said the spell I knew it was coming, but… I still didn't want to accept it. The man, that evil dark creature, he used the Cruciatus Cruse. Hermione yelled go, now, and right after…" Ginny was trying to blink away her tears. She had to stop telling the horrible story that she wished that she hadn't witnessed. "Then, I heard Hermione scream. It was terrible, something I never wanted to hear, and never want to hear again. I don't know how you could have listened to it…" Ginny trailed off.

Ginny kept staring into her lap, and started shaking as more tears slid down her cheeks. She didn't even try to wipe them away or hid them, she was just too tired. Ginny felt as if she needed to sleep for years, but felt that if she went to sleep she would hear Hermione's screams in her dreams.

Ginny felt Harry pull away from her, and she sighed, still not looking up. Ginny felt Harry get up from the bed, too, but she still didn't look up. Ginny didn't want to see Harry's reaction. Ginny heard Harry's footsteps as he walked toward the door, and closed it. Ginny felt even more tears fall from her crystal blue eyes.

Then, Ginny felt arms wrap around her. Ginny looked up, and saw Harry sitting next to her on the bed again. Tears were swimming in his emerald green eyes, and he looked strait into her own eyes. Ginny wrapped her own arms around Harry's waist, and they laid down on the bed together. Ginny laid her head on Harry's chest, and cried silently. Harry stroked Ginny's hair with one hand, and had his other arm around Ginny's waist. The couple stayed there, Harry comforting Ginny as she cried in his arms, and he held back his own tears with great difficulty. Harry didn't want Ginny to have to worry about himself, he wanted to be strong for Ginny, but he was finding it hard to do.

XxXxXx

Mr. Weasley walked into Ginny's hospital room. He opened to door to find Harry and Ginny fast asleep in each other's arms. Mr. Weasley smiled at the image of he daughter and the boy who he already thought of as a son. Mr. Weasley was happy to see a little bit more love in a world filled with hate. He walked over to the side of the bed, and gently shook the couple awake.

When Harry awoke and saw that it was Mr. Weasley who had woken them, he quickly took his hands away from his girlfriend's body, not wanting to anger said girlfriend's father. Ginny looked up at her father, wishing she could go back to sleep in Harry's arms.

Mr. Weasley chuckled at Harry's reaction. "Time to get you out of this hospital."

Ginny smiled widely, happy to be leaving. "YES!" she exclaimed excitedly as she jumped out of bed and threw her shoes on. Mr. Weasley chuckled lightly, laughing for the first time since Hermione's Patronus had been sent to them. He was happy to see Ginny happy and excited for something.

"We have a lot of paper work to, though, so it might take a while." Mr. Weasley said with an apologetic smile.

"NO!" Ginny exclaimed as she slumped down into a chair, and tied her shoes.

"I'll go and talk to the nurses about getting that paper work," Mr. Weasley said as he walked back out the door, leaving Ginny and Harry alone again.

Harry chuckled at Ginny's dramatic reaction and sat down next to her. He grabbed her foot and tied one of her shoes for her while she tied the other.

Harry had been trying to keep Hermione out of his head, and he didn't want to bring up the Patronus to Ginny or Mr. Weasley, knowing that the both of them had witnessed it. Harry had held Ginny and stroked her hair until she had fallen asleep that night, hoping to give her just a small bit of comfort. Harry had been thinking about finding Hermione, and saving her, and the Golden Trio being re-united once again before he had fallen asleep.

"You don't have to wait, you can go home and tell Ron about… the new information…" Ginny told Harry hesitantly. She knew that Ron would want to know about Hermione contacting them, even if it ended in everyone finding out that their speculations of her being tortured were true.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked. He didn't want to leave Ginny's side, not wanting her to be taken too, even though she was with her father.

"Of coarse! I wouldn't want to watch you do paper work for hours before leaving a hospital," Ginny replied with a teasing grin.

"But, I'd love to watch you do anything, 'cause you're just so pretty!" Harry exclaimed, smiling widely as he watched the famous Weasley blush creep up on Ginny's cheeks.

"Want some crackers with that cheese?" Ginny joked, standing up and walking slowly toward the door.

"I love being cheesy! Don't mock the cheese!" Harry exclaimed as he fallowed Ginny and grabbed her hand. "Are you sure you want me to leave?" Harry asked, suddenly becoming serious.

"Yes! I'm fine," Ginny exclaimed.

"Okay, I'll see you back at The Burrow," Harry replied with a quick kiss to Ginny's lips.

"Bye!" Ginny said as Harry apparated away to The Burrow, and she sighed as she walked out of the hospital room, ready to jump head first in a pile of waiting paper work.

XxXxXx

Harry touched down from his apparition right in front of the gate leading into The Burrow. He opened up the gate of the fence surrounding the magical house that he had begun to think of as home and walked strait into the house.

He walked into the kitchen, and saw Mrs. Weasley running around, cleaning and preparing breakfast. "Hey, Mrs. Weasley," Harry greeted with a huge smile. Mrs. Weasley had helped him through so much throughout the years, she had given him a home, and a family that he actually liked. Harry thought of Mrs. Weasley like a mother, and not as his best friend and girlfriend's mother.

Mrs. Weasley jumped with surprise and dropped the pan that she was holding when she heard Harry. "Oh! Harry, dear, you scared me! I wasn't expecting anyone to come home 'till later," Mrs. Weasley replied. Harry saw that her eyes were slightly red, as if she had been crying.

"Ginny will be coming home soon with Mr. Weasley. They have some paper work to do before Ginny can leave the hospital," Harry explained with a comforting smile.

"Oh, that's good. Just, don't go out by yourself, okay? I never thought I'd ever have to say that again…" Mrs. Weasley said worriedly with a sigh. She had thought that the worrying was over, because Voldemort was gone. She thought the danger of death was gone from her family, but she was wrong. Mrs. Weasley gazed up at the clock with the pictures of her family in it. Hermione and Harry's faces had been added to the clock, Hermione's face was still on mortal peril, Ginny and her husband's on hospital, and Harry, Ron, George, Charlie, Bill, Fleur (who's face was added when she and Bill were married), and Mrs. Weasley's faces were all on home. Mrs. Weasley sighed, hoping that Hermione's face would once again be back on home.

"I'll stay safe," Harry said as Mrs. Weasley tore her gaze away from the clock. She rushed over to Harry and wrapped him into a huge motherly hug.

"Good," Mrs. Weasley said, and backed away from Harry. She wiped her eyes, concealing tears that were threatening to fall, and went back to cleaning and cooking.

Harry smiled and rushed up to Ron's room, which he still shared with him. He walked in, and saw Ron laying on his bed, and he had pulled out a book to read. Harry stared at Ron for a moment, thinking about how strange it was to see Ron actually reading a book. Ron didn't notice Harry, even when he walked around to see the cover of the book. Harry saw that he was reading _Hogwarts: A History, _Hermione's favorite book.

"I miss her too," Harry said sadly. Ron sighed and put down the book, wiping away the tears that had been falling down his cheeks, hoping to hide them from Harry. Harry just pretended like he hadn't seen them.

"Yeah. How's Ginny?" Ron asked, in an emotionless voice.

"She's fine. I think you would want to know what happened to cause her panic attack, though," Harry said as he sat down on a chair near Ron's bed. Ron looked down at his lap, not wanting to look up and talk to Harry, or talk to anyone.

"I don't want-"

"Yes you do. A Patronus arrived yesterday mourning while everyone was sleeping… it was an otter."

Ron's head jerked upward, realizing instantly who's Patronus it was. A smile spread across Ron's face, smiling for the first time since everyone was at the airport.

Harry looked at Ron, and saw that he was happy for the first time, and he didn't want to ruin it by tell Ron that the Patronus didn't have a very good message.

"What did it say? Did Ginny hear Hermione? Is she alright?" Ron asked excitedly as he sat strait up in his bed.

"Erm… she said some information about her being in a dungeon, and everything was made of stone-"

"Do you know where she is?" Ron asked, smiling even wider.

"No… a man had come into wherever she was… and it didn't end well."

Ron stared blankly at Harry, as if not understanding what he was saying. "What do you mean?" Ron asked, his smile falling from his face.

"The man… he… well he used the… the Cruciatus Cruse…" Harry stuttered out, looking away from Ron and toward his lap. Harry felt tears well up in his eyes, put didn't let them fall. Harry felt Ron's eyes staring at him, but he didn't dare look up, scared to see Ron's face.

Ron kept staring and Harry, feeling useless. He got up off his bed, and slammed his bedroom door as he walked out of his room. Ron walked down the stairs and out the kitchen door, passed his confused mother. Ron kept walking, opening the gate to the fence and slamming it behind him. Then, he apparated away from his house.

Mrs. Weasley started after her son, and started at the place where he had apparated from. She looked up at her clock, and Ron's face was on traveling, then moved to lost.

**A/N: I hope you liked Harry's cheesy-ness and the small bit of Hinny fluff. **

**Until next time!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: This chapter is with Hermione, but there's no icky beatings and such. Yay for Hermione!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K Rowling… sadly.**

Hermione had been in her dungeon, laying down on the cold floor and letting the pain she was feeling consume her, when the metal door creaked open. Hermione sat up, and looked toward the door, hoping for Harry, or Ron, or Ginny, or anyone from the Order, who would come to save her, but she saw someone in a dark cloak and Death Eater mask. Hermione cringed and crawled to the other side of the dungeon, hoping to get as far away from the Death Eater as possible.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," said the Death Eater, his voice was soft and sincere. Hermione looked up hesitantly, noticing that it was one of the Death Eaters who had taken her to her prison, the Death Eater who had sounded the most familiar to her, and had always stayed in the back of their line.

He started to walk toward Hermione, and Hermione pushed herself against the wall and as far away from the Death Eater as possible. She looked up and saw that he was carrying a tray, but she couldn't see what was on it. Hermione was thinking that there was knives on the tray that he would soon use to stab at her.

The Death Eater had set down the tray next to Hermione, and she saw that it had food on it. Hermione stared at the food, her mouth beginning to water. She had no idea how long she had been there, but all she had gotten to eat was some horrible mush of food, and some water. Hermione looked at the tray, and saw food that looked edible, and not like a dog had thrown it up.

"Eat up, you're probably not going to get food for another while," the Death Eater said as he sat down on the wall across from Hermione, wanting to give her as much space as possible.

Hermione looked up at the Death Eater curiously, then looked down at the food. Hermione grabbed the fork that was laying on the tray and ate the food faster than she had ever eaten. How fast and messily she ate would have made Ron look like an angel while he ate.

"Keep eating, it's going to give you strength, and you're going to need you're strength for when Ari- when he comes back." He had stopped short, stopping from saying the name of his master, who was leading him and forcing him to keep Hermione in the dungeon. If it were up to him, Hermione wouldn't be in the dungeon, she'd be at home, with her family.

Hermione looked up at the man, who sounded so familiar, and she wished that she would be able to remember him.

"When who comes back?" Hermione croaked out, her voice sounding hoarse and her throat hurting from screaming so much.

"I can't tell you that," he replied, wishing that he could tell Hermione who was keeping her here, and who he was.

"Why? Who would I tell?" Hermione questioned.

"You never know, you could get a hold of someone's wand, and sent another Patronus out," he replied.

"Doubt it… why are you just sitting there? Shouldn't you be trying to get some sort of information out of me while using the Cruciatus Curse or that stinging curse?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I don't want to hurt you… but if you want…" He replied while taking out his wand.

"NO! No…" Hermione exclaimed as he pointed his wand toward her.

"Relax, I'm just going to heal some of you're bruises and broken ankle," he said. He muttered a spell under his breath, and Hermione felt her pain lessen and felt her ankle stop throbbing, and saw it's swelling dying down. The Death Eater backed away from her and sat down on the wall across from Hermione again.

"Thanks, was it you who healed my head?" Hermione asked, realizing that it could have been him.

"It was. Ari- the master wanted you to bleed out, but I convinced him not to kill you, so he could question you," he replied, mentally slapping himself for almost giving away his master's name again.

"Well, thanks for telling him not to kill me. But now I'm thinking that dying would have been easier for me," Hermione said glumly.

"Don't think like that. Be happy to be alive. Someone could find you, any day now, think about that."

"Why can't you just let me go?" Hermione pleaded.

"Because they'd know it was me, and they'd kill me, and my family."

"How would they know?"

"Let's just say, I haven't been a great help with their cause."

"What is their cause? Why do they need to know where Harry is? Why do they need _me?_" Hermione asked, hoping for some answers.

"Voldemort's dead now, and a new man wants to rise up and take his place. He wants to find and kill the survivors of the Last Battle. He thinks that killing the survivors would avenge Voldemort's death, and he wants to start with Harry Potter, the boy who killed Voldemort."

"Who is 'he?'" Hermione asked, wanting more answers.

"I can't tell you that."

"Why?"

"Because, he's the one who helped kidnap you. The one who's been torturing you. Unlike Voldemort, he's very hands on. If I told you who he was, and you got your hands on a wand and told everyone, I'd end up dead." He explained.

"Well, can you tell me who you are?" Hermione asked hopefully, wanting to be able to figure out who the familiar voice belonged to.

"You don't recognize my voice?" he asked disbelievingly.

"It sounds so familiar…" Hermione said.

"I can't tell you, because again, if you get you're hands on a wand…"

"You'd end up in Azkaban," Hermione finished.

"Exactly. I wish I could tell you more, I really do." he answered, truthfully.

"Yea, me too."

The Death Eater looked down at his wrist, and Hermione figured that he had a watch on his wrist that he was looking at.

"I have to go now, but remember they won't kill you, trust me on that."

"You'd be surprised what someone could live through," Hermione replied.

"I know, and I'm sorry you have to live through it."

Before he stood up, the Death Eater rolled something over to Hermione, and walked out of the metal door before the object arrived to Hermione. She looked down, and saw her wand laying on the floor in front of her. Hermione picked it up, and silently thanked the familiar voice. Hermione stood up shakily, still not very strong and her ankle still hurting.

It took a little while, but Hermione thought of a strong enough memory to conjure her Patronus to send to the Weasleys.

"I'm fine, don't worry to much about me. I have some new information. One of the Death Eaters who kidnapped me says I should know him, so you all should probably know him too. Also, the leader of the new gang of Death Eaters wants to rise up and kill the survivors of the Last Battle to avenge Voldemort, starting with Harry. His name starts with Ari, but I don't know the rest of his name. Please, hid everyone, because you all were in the Last Battle, especially Harry. I love you all, and I'll contact you whenever I can."

Hermione sent off her otter, and hid her wand in the darkest corner in her dungeon, so that no one would find it, and that she would be able to keep it close to her. She now knew better than to curse whoever opened up the door, and to be careful when she tries to contact the Weasleys. She didn't try to send one to the Grangers, in case someone else decided to walk in.

Hermione smiled for the first time since she got to the dungeon, realizing that there was still hope for her.

**A/N: Sorry it's not very long, but there's lots of information in it! **

**Anyway, Review and all that jazz!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: This chapter is about Hermione and her captors, so again, warning about icky stuff. **

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K Rowling, but I did Melissa Anelli (who runs The Leaky Cauldron) at the Starkid Concert! That was TOTALLY AWESOME! **

Hermione had been sitting down in the dungeon, staring at the corner that now held her wand. Hermione had kept staring at it, to make sure it wouldn't randomly disappear, which was highly unlikely, but Hermione still wanted to make sure it was still there. She didn't want to pull it out at any random time, she knew to use it after someone had come to… visit… her, because no one would come to check on her for another while. She was also thinking about her Patronus, and who would get it. Hermione just cared that someone would get it, and know that she was alright, and not dead. She was starting to think that the Weasleys and Grangers had lost hope, thinking that she was dead, because of her last Patronus message ending in Hermione screaming from one of her captors torturing her. Hermione couldn't help but imagine how everyone might have reacted. She hoped that no one had gotten too worried, or had a huge and gigantic reaction that led to some huge fight that split up the Weasleys, or something enormous like that.

Then, Hermione thought of the Longbottoms. How Neville's parents were still in St. Mungo's, and couldn't even remember their own son because they were tortured horribly by Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan LeStrange, and Barty Crouch Jr. Hermione didn't want to end up like them. She thought that how they had a fate was worse than death, and would hate it if she ended up like Neville's parents. Hermione wanted to be able to remember her family and friends when she was old, and wrinkly. _Maybe, because they're not using the Cruciatus Curse as much, I won't end up like them,_ Hermione thought.

Then, Hermione started thinking about the new information that she learned from one of the captors. Someone wants to start another war, not even 3 months after one ended, and wants to kill everyone who survived the Final Battle, starting with Harry. Hermione cringed at the thought of someone going after Harry and the Weasleys again, and Hermione wanted to do everything in her power to make sure that no one got near them, even though she was stuck in some dark and mucky dungeon.

Hermione was still sitting against the wall and staring at the dark corner where her wand was, when the door creaked open, sending chills down Hermione's spine. She didn't look up to see who it was, knowing that the person would either torture her so much that she would want to die, or talk to her about this 'Ari' person.

"Hello, mudblood." said a feminine voice from the door, right before the door slammed shut. Hermione looked up curiously, wondering why she was here, and not 'Ari' or the mystery man who had been so nice to her.

"It's so nice to see-" She broke off into a laugh that sounded like a crackle, like the Wicked Witch of the West from the muggle movie, The Wizard Of Oz. "I can't keep a strait face while saying that it's nice to see you again. Honestly, it's horrible to see you again."

Hermione realized that it was the girl who had also kidnapped her, who had a familiar voice that Hermione was sure that she had heard once or twice before.

"Well, I have some questions, and I really want you to get hurt during this little interview, so if you lie, expect some pain, alright?"

Hermione didn't reply, she just kept staring at the girl, trying to figure out who she was.

"You will also reply when I speak to you. Do you understand?"

Hermione still didn't reply. She was lost in thought and not paying any attention to the Death Eater in front of her. Hermione was racking her brain of all the faces she knew, trying to match the voice with a face.

"I said, do you understand." She repeated, strongly. She took out her wand and muttered, _"Levecorpus!" _

Hermione was raised up into the air by her ankle, the ankle that had been broken and was still being healed with time. Hermione screamed with pain while shooting up into the air. She felt all the blood in her body rush to her head, and felt her face getting red.

"You'll stay like that until you reply to me," She stated, leaning against the wall opposite of Hermione, waiting for a reply.

"I-I underst-stand." Hermione stuttered out in defeat.

"Good." And with the wave of the Death Eater's wand, Hermione fell to the stone floor, hearing a loaned crack and pain shooting to her knee that she had landed on weird.

"Get up." the Death Eater commanded. Hermione groaned as she sat up on the ground, keeping her hurt knee strait and grabbing her other knee and holding it close to her chest.

"Question one, Where is the Order's new HQ?" She asked harshly, standing over Hermione and pointing her wand strait into Hermione's face.

"I d-don't know," Hermione answered truthfully. She was told in a letter that it had been changed while she was in Australia, but she didn't find out where it had changed to.

"LIES!" the Death Eater screeched, as a small sliver of red light flew toward Hermione's face, and she felt a shock of electricity flow through her body, like the spell the other Death Eater used on her.

"No! I-I'm not lying! I don't know where it is! I told the other man, too! Please!" Hermione yelled back at the Death Eater.

"Stop lying!" she screamed, grabbing Hermione's arm and throwing her against the wall. Hard.

XxXxXx

I threw her against the wall in a huge rage, angry that this… this mudblood was lying to me. She needed to learn to stop lying and give us the information we need, but she was so stubborn that it just frustrated everyone even more.

The sound of the mudblood hitting the wall echoed throughout the dark dungeon, and then she fell to the floor with a loud thud, that also echoed. I hated the sound of the echo, it made me feel that we were back in the Slytherin Common Room, where every little noise that you made echoed throughout the room. I hated the Slytherin Common Room. You can't do anything to help Voldemort rise to power from a room in the dungeons of Hogwarts, I learned that in my fifth year.

"Get up." I yelled at the mudblood laying on the floor against the wall next to me. I looked over, and saw she made no effort to move. "I said, GET UP!" I screamed as I walked over to the mudblood. I leaned down, and wend to grab her arm and throw her upward, but saw a pool of sticky liquid surrounding her head.

_"Lumos!" _I yelled, and I looked down to see the mudblood's head wound that had been sown shut had been opened again, and blood was gushing out of it. I gasped at the sight of all the blood surrounding the mudblood, and seeing the pool getting bigger and bigger by the second. Any minute know, she would bleed out, and then the master would kill me. He doesn't want her dead, he wants to be able to question her, torture her, find out where Potter is, and he can't do that with the mudblood dead.

"Oh my god, oh my god…" I kept repeating, as I paced around the room. "What would the master say? What if I killed her? No no no no no… she can't die. Then, then he won't… he won't take me back. No no no no!"

I grabbed the coin that was in my pocket, that us new Death Eaters had started to use to contact each other, and sent an emergency to my brother Death Eater, who had healed her the first time. I hated how we never learned each other's names, but it was for good reason. If anyone was captured and slipped some Veritaserum, they could say who everyone was. Even though it protected everyone, I still wanted to be able to call everyone by their names, and not 'Brother' or 'Sister.' The only name I did know was Aries, our master's name.

The metal door creaked open, and my brother Death Eater opened the door and ran into the dungeon, out of breath and red in the face. He had forgotten to wear his mask, but I still didn't recognize his face, so I couldn't put a name to him.

"What the bloody _hell_ did you do?" he asked, while looking down at the mudblood, seeing all the blood.

"I-I just… I didn't mean to," I stuttered out, "Can you… can you heal her?"

"I'll try…" he mumbled as he kneeled beside the mudblood and pulled out his wand and pointing it toward the huge gash on the mudblood's head.

I kept pacing back and forth, trying to stay calm about it, but not doing a good job of stay calm.

"Is she dead? Oh, god, she's dead, isn't she? CRAP CRAP CRAP!" I kept exclaiming as I walked back and forth.

"SHUT UP!" Brother screamed at me, as he kept healing the mudblood.

After a few minutes of me pacing back and forth, mumbling my worries to myself, and Brother healing the mudblood, he stood up and turned to me.

"Hermione's alive. Don't be so harsh next time." Then, my brother Death Eater walked out of the Left Dungeon in our new Death Eater HQ.

I breathed a sigh of relief, happy that I hadn't killed anyone, and that the master wouldn't kill me. I didn't sign up to join the revolt to torture and kill people, I signed up to get… him… back. I couldn't even think about his name without having to feel as if tears were going to fall from his eyes. He had broken my heart, crushed it to pieces, and threw it to the ground. I hoped that joining the Death Eaters would impress him and make him love me again. That was the goal, and I was determined to reach it.

**A/N: If anyone was confused, the P.O.V switched to the girl Death Eater. Any guesses as to who she is? Any guess as to why she joined the Death Eaters? **

**Anyway! Review, please, and all that jazz.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Back with the Weasleys!**

**Disclaimer: Do I have to say it again?**

Mr. Weasley and Harry were sitting outside on white painted porch chairs in the front garden of The Burrow. They had been talking about Ron, and trying to find him, which was becoming very difficult. Harry and the rest of the Order had gone out every one of the three days he had disappeared. They haven't found any trace of Ron yet, and everyone was worrying about him. It seemed that new Death Eaters were ganging up and kidnapping people, and everyone hoped that Ron wasn't their next kidnapping victim. People that Harry had gone to school with had been reported missing over the past few days, like Lavender Brown and Colin Creevey's little brother, Dennis.

The Order had gotten together and had a meeting, a meeting that no one had ever wanted to have again. They talked about trying to figure out who was in the new 'clan' of Death Eaters, with no results. All the Death Eaters from the First of Second Wizarding Wars were either dead or in Azkaban, except for the Malfoys, who had been questioned about the kidnappings. The Malfoys knew nothing about the new kidnappings, they even used Veritaserum, which the Malfoys agreed to use. It was a huge mystery for everyone, no one knew anything about what was happening, and people were beginning to start thinking that a new war was on it's way.

The only thing that the Order had to go on was that Mr. Weasley seemed to recognize the voice of the man who had interrupted Hermione's Patronus, and he had been looking through all the profiles of Death Eaters and Death Eaters' families, but Mr. Weasley wasn't able to put a face to the voice.

"Do you have any idea who-" Harry had started to say, but stopped short when he saw a small sliver of silver mist flow into the garden and over to Harry and Mr. Weasley. The small mist formed an otter, and Harry realized that it was Hermione's Patronus. He and Mr. Weasley stared at the otter waiting for it to talk, which seemed like hours.

_"I'm fine, don't worry to much about me. I have some new information. One of the Death Eaters who kidnapped me says I should know him, so you all should probably know him too. Also, the leader of the new gang of Death Eaters wants to rise up and kill the survivors of the Last Battle to avenge Voldemort, starting with Harry. His name starts with Ari, but I don't know the rest of his name. Please, hid everyone, because you all were in the Last Battle, especially Harry. I love you all, and I'll contact you whenever I can." _

Harry and Mr. Weasley stared at the otter, expecting someone to come in and start torturing Hermione again, but the otter just disappeared.

"Kill survivors? That explains Dennis and Lavender. Do you think…" Harry trailed off.

"That they were killed? I don't think so. They're probably being questioned about you, like… like Hermione is. Which makes me think that you need to be careful from now on. It seems that you have another gang of Death Eaters out to get you." Mr. Weasley said sternly. He looked at Harry, seeing how selfless he was. The first thought that came to his mind wasn't about his life being in danger, again, but of his friends. Harry just waved his hand at Mr. Weasley's comment about his own safety, not really caring about his safety at the moment.

"Poor Dennis…" Harry muttered under his breath. "What about this guy that kidnapped Hermione? That we all know?" He asked Mr. Weasley.

"I don't know who he might be. All the Death Eaters that we all know are either dead or in Azkaban…" Mr. Weasley trailed off, trying to think about who the mystery man might be.

"And what about this 'Ari' guy?" Harry questioned curiously.

"I don't know. Hmm… Ari…" Mr. Weasley trailed off, racking his brain for anybody he knew that's name began with A-R-I. He thought through the many family trees that he had to memorize when he joined the Order, and the people he knew personally. He thought of the people in Azkaban, and the people who had gone missing. _People who had gone missing…_ Mr. Weasley thought as he scratched his chin.

"MERLIN! Aries! Why didn't I think of him before?"

"What?"

"Aries Malfoy!"

"Wait, a Malfoy?"

"Yes! Lucius's brother!"

"I thought the Malfoy's were huge on the whole only-one-child-who's-a-boy thing." Harry said curiously.

"Aries was an accident, though none of the Malfoys would admit it." Mr. Weasley stated.

"Oh. Wait, why have I never heard of him, then?"

"Well, the Malfoys were kind of ashamed of Aries."

"How so?"

"He _did _believe in the whole pure-blood-people-are-superior thing, but didn't do anything about it. He didn't join the Death Eaters, and didn't pick fights with muggleborns and halfbloods at Hogwarts."

"So what did he do to show that he _did _support Voldemort?"

"Nothing! He just said from time to time that he supported him."

"Why didn't he join the Death Eaters?" Harry asked, getting more excited with every answer Mr. Weasley gave him.

"Aries was a total coward. 'Fraid of his own shadow kind of guy. When Lucius got the Dark Mark, he asked Voldemort if Aries could join, hoping that Aries would join and stop 'disgracing the Malfoy name in the Dark Wizarding community.' Well, Aries said no, being the coward that he was. Then, he disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Harry asked, becoming even more curious and excited.

"No one knows what happened to him. Everyone thought that Lucius killed him, though there was no proof."

"If he was such a coward, why would he be kidnapping people and leading an army?"

"I don't know, but it's the biggest lead that we have."

"Would there be any way of finding him now?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I don't think so," Mr. Weasley said, "the records of Aries were from a really long time ago and probably lost now."

"Can we talk to Lucius?" Harry asked.

"Lucius was and is humiliated of Aries, I'm pretty sure Draco doesn't know anything about Aries, so I don't think he would talk about Aries without being forced to."

"Do you think we could try?"

"I guess so, but Lucius probably won't be too cooperative."

"It's worth a shot," Harry said.

"Alright, let's apparate to Malfoy Manor now," Mr. Weasley said, "I want to find out as soon as possible if it's possible that Aries would still be alive."

"Don't you think that the Malfoys will be a little angry with us barging in, un-announced?"

"When have you ever worried about making the Malfoys angry, Harry?" Mr. Weasley said with a teasing chuckle.

"Good point. Let's go." Harry replied with a chuckle as he grabbed Mr. Weasley's arm and they apparated to Malfoy Manor.

XxXxXx

Lucius Malfoy was sitting down in his study, doing endless paper work that he wished that he didn't have to do. He was bored out of his mind, wishing that he could leave the study and get out of his house, but he knew that if he did, the paper work would never get done.

Nracissa was in the kitchen, cooking lunch. Ever since the Ministry required that the Malfoys get rid of their house-elves, Narcissa had to cook for the family of three. She had never had to cook before, so she was still getting used to the new cooking and cleaning spells, but she wasn't half bad, at least to Lucius.

Draco was in his bedroom, reading the _Daily Prophet. _On the front page was a picture of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and the article was about Hermione's disappearance. They had information about what she looked like, how Death Eater's had kidnapped her off of an airplane, and how she had been missing for about a week now. Draco was honestly sad about Hermione being missing, and he wished he could somehow help her. He had no idea who had kidnapped her, and he wished that he did. All the Death Eaters that he had known were in Azkaban, but he still kept racking his brain, trying to think of who had taken her.

It was a normal and calm day at Malfoy Manor. It was how the family of three usually spent their day, in totally different parts of their huge manor, only seeing and speaking to each other during meals.

Then, the doorbell rang, which was VERY strange. Ever since the war had ended, no one had visited Malfoy Manor. Draco guessed it was because everyone still thought that they were Death Eaters and would kill anyone who came to the door, which was not true, at least for Draco.

The sound of the doorbell made Lucius, Narcissa and Draco jump, and all three of them went to the front door to see who was there. Lucius opened the door to see Harry Potter and Arthur Weasley, looking very determined.

"Arthur, Harry, to what do we owe this… pleasure?" Narcissa asked. She was very thankful of Harry for keeping them out of Azkaban, though she still had no idea why he kept her and her family out of jail.

"We have a few questions," Mr. Weasley answered.

"Come into the living room then," she answered, leading the two visitors and her two family members into the living room. Everyone sat down, the three Malfoys on one couch, Harry and Mr. Weasley on the other.

"We actually have questions for Lucius," Mr. Weasley said when everyone was sitting down.

"I didn't take your friend, if that's what this is about," Lucius said, sounding irritated.

"We don't think that you did. We think someone else did, and we also think that you're the only one who knows where he is." Harry answered, trying hard not to roll his eyes.

"Who?" Draco asked, looking and Harry curiously.

"I don't think your dad would like me to say. That's why I think we should ask him alone," Mr. Weasley answered.

"You can ask me in front of my family. I've told them everything. No secrets." Lucius replied.

"It's about Aries." Mr. Weasley said, staring straight into Lucius' cold, grey eyes. Lucius eyes widened in surprise, not expecting to hear that name come out of Mr. Weasley's mouth.

"Draco, Cissy, I think you should leave," Lucius said, not moving his gaze from Mr. Weasley's.

"But-"

"Now, Draco."

Narcissa got up from the couch and walked toward the kitchen, and Draco quickly fallowed.

"What does Aries have to do with anything?" Lucius asked coldly.

"We think that he is one of the three new Death Eaters who took Hermione." Mr. Weasley replied.

"He's too much of a coward to kidnap anyone." Lucius spat out.

"Is there a possibility?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"I didn't kill him, if that's what you're asking," Lucius replied.

"Do you know what happened him?" Harry asked.

"Yeah." Lucius replied, trying to stall the story for as much time as possible.

"Can you tell us?" Harry asked, getting irritated.

Lucius sighed and put his face in his hands and rubbed his eyes. Then, he started the tale of his brother, Aries Malfoy.

**A/N: Next chapter will be Aries/Lucius flashback and all that happened between them. Review and all that jazz, please!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: This chapter is Aries backstory, told from the P.O.V of Lucius. Just saying… in case anyone gets confused.**

**Disclaimer: The world belongs to J.K Rowling, I only modified it.**

_"My lord. Thank you. I'm happy to serve you for as long as you need," I said. My new Dark Mark was branded on my forearm. It hurt. A lot. I didn't want the Dark Lord to think of me as weak, so I didn't complain. I tried to keep the look of pain off my face, but I had a feeling that it was obvious that I was in a lot of pain. _

_"Yes, whenever I need your assistance." the Dark Lord answered._

_"I must ask you for one more thing, my Lord."_

_"What is it, Lucius?" he asked, sounding slightly irritated._

_"My brother-"_

_"Aries, is it?"_

_"Yes, that's him. I must ask you, I mean, if you would… I mean, could you-"_

_"Spit it out! I don't have all day!"_

_"Could you give him the Mark too? Please? He believes in our cause! He wants all those filthy mudbloods gone!"_

_"That's not enough! The Dark Mark is saved for my closest servants, not my closest servant's brother."_

_"But, my Lord! He'd be a great asset to our cause! He'd help!" I argued, disagreeing with the Dark Lord for the first time. He looked surprised, as if it was the first time anyone had ever argued with him. His slits-for-eyes widened, if possible._

_"Bring him to me. I want to talk to this Aries."_

_"Yes, my Lord. Thank you."_

_"Go, now!" he exclaimed._

_"Yes, my Lord," I replied._

_I apparated away from the first Death Eater Headquarters, which were under the Ministry of Magic, to embarrass the Minister more than ever. _

_I arrived at the front door at Malfoy Manor. I ran through the door, slamming it behind me, and loudly rushed up the stairs, waving to Mother on the way. I ran to Aries' room, and walked right in, without knocking, which irritated Aries very much._

_"Ever heard of knocking?" Aries said coldly as I walked, more like jogged, toward Aries' desk, where he was sitting. _

_"I have the greatest news EVER!" I exclaimed._

_"Your Dark Mark? Everyone already knows about that." Aries said, rolling his eyes, still not looking up from the picture he had been drawing. _

_I leaned over Aries' shoulder, looking at the paper on his desk. It was a very good drawing, I had learned not so long ago that Aries had amazing talent with drawing. I saw that he was drawing a picture of a wizard, with it's wand pointed toward another person. The person was cringing away from the wizard and crumbled on the floor._

_"What's this?" I asked, curious about his drawing._

_"A wizard putting a muggle in it's rightful place."_

_I smiled slightly, knowing that this was the perfect time to talk to Aries about joining the Death Eaters. He had a problem with the Death Eaters, and I didn't know what it was. Whenever I'd ask him if he would join the Death Eaters if he had the chance, he'd say no, which confused me beyond belief. _

_"Really? Do you want to put muggles and mudbloods in their rightful place?" _

_"Of coarse."_

_"Well, it's your lucky day! The Dark Lord wants to talk to you! Maybe let you join the Death Eaters!"_

_Aries, for the first time, dropped his pencil and looked up from his drawing, staring at the wall in from of him._

_"Are you sure he meant me?" Aries asked, sounding worried and still staring at the wall. _

_"Positive! I had to persuade the Dark Lord after getting my Dark Mark to talk to you, and he agreed!" I replied excitedly._

_"Oh." he replied as he looked back down toward is drawing._

_"You don't sound very happy about it."_

_"Thank you, for persuading… the er… Dark Lord to talk to me,"_

_"But…"_

_"Why do you think there should be a 'but' at the end of that statement?"_

_"Because there always is."_

_"Alright. I don't want to talk to him."_

_I started at my brother, thinking that that was the weirdest thing I've ever heard from him._

_"What?" I asked. I put my neck out for him! I argued for him! _

_"I don't… want to talk to him." He repeated._

_"What?"_

_"I don't wan-"_

_"I know what you said, but why?"_

_"I just… I just don't."_

_"That's crazy! You always go on and on about how you think muggles and mudbloods and half bloods and blood traitors need to be killed!"_

_"I know-"_

_"And how they need to be put in their place!"_

_"I know, but-"_

_"And how-"_

_"I KNOW… I know. I just… didn't want to be the one to do it."_

_"So you're a coward?"_

_"No! I'm not! I just…"_

_"Just what?"_

_"I just… don't want to."_

_"Don't be selfish." I scolded._

_"I'm not! I'm just…"_

_"A coward!"_

_"NO! I'm NOT a coward!" Aries replied, jumping up from his chair._

_"Then join Voldemort! Join me!"_

_"No! Aren't you listening?"_

_"You're doing this for stupid reasons!"_

_"No! I'm not!" Aries exclaimed._

_"Yes, you are! You 'just don't want to.' THAT is a stupid reason! You're just a coward who is scared of getting hurt!"_

_"NO! I'M NOT A COWARD!"_

_"Then join the Death Eaters!"_

_"NO! Would you listen to someone else for once in your life?"_

_I started at my brother, feeling like I didn't even know him. ._

_"At least talk to him. Please. I stuck my neck out for you! I argued with him for you! Just, talk to him, okay?" I said with a sigh._

_"When?"_

_"Now."_

_"Alright, take me to him."_

_I smiled widely and took my brother's arm, then apparated us to the headquarters under the Ministry._

_"Where are we?" Aries asked as we touched solid ground._

_"All you have to know is that we are at Death Eater Headquarters."_

_"Why is it so dark and mucky?"_

_"We're underground. Far underground."_

_"Oh."_

_We walked through the tunnels under the Ministry, which I had come to memorize but Aries kept saying that we were lost. After a few minutes, we finally reached the room where Voldemort was waiting for us. _

_"Lucius! And Aries, right?" the Dark Lord greeted as we walked into the room._

_"My lord, I've brought my brother, like you asked."_

_"Good, good. You can go now, Lucius."_

_"But-"_

_"Goodbye, Lucius."_

_I took one last look at my brother, and walked out the door._

**A/N: Some of Aries' backstory! Any thoughts? **

**The next chapter is Part 2 of his backstory!**

**Please Review and all that jazz!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: This is Part 2 of Aries' backstory, hope ya'll enjoy it, and stuff!**

**Disclaimer: Do I have to say it again?**

_I was waiting outside the room that Aries and the Dark Lord had been talking in. It felt like I had been waiting for hours, even though it was only a half an hour. I was pacing back and forth outside the bronze door that was blocking me from entering the room. I was curious about what they were talking about, and I really wanted to know what was going on. I hoped that Aries wasn't disappointing the Dark Lord, and that he was being respectful. He's not a very respectful man, and doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut, so hopefully, he'll be good._

_I kept pacing back and forth, thinking about all the things that could possibly go wrong, when the door creaked open. I stopped abruptly, and looked toward the door, seeing Aries stepping out from the doorway, and the door shutting behind him._

_"What happened?" I asked excitedly, hoping that the Dark Lord accepted Aries._

_"Nothing." He replied bluntly._

_"What do you mean, 'nothing?' Something had to have happened!"_

_"Nothing happened. That's all you need to know."_

_"What did he say?"_

_"NOTHING!" He yelled as he started to walk away from Lucius, down the dark hallway and toward the place where we had arrived._

_"You don't even know how to get out of here," I said as I walked after him, rolling my eyes._

_"Then show me. I want to leave."_

_I grabbed his wrist and twisted him around to face me. I stared straight into his bright blue eyes. He had gotten his eyes from our Mother, and I got the famous Malfoy grey eyes._

_"What happened?" I asked calmly._

_He sighed and looked away from me._

_"Aries…" I trailed off, hoping that he would tell me._

_"Later, Lucius." _

_"But-"_

_"Not here."_

_"But-"_

_"LATER!" He yelled. I stared at my brother, who seemed so different after this little meeting with the Dark Lord._

_"…Okay."_

_Aries ripped his wrist away from my hand with strength that I didn't know that he had. He started walking away, and I fell into step next to him. I led him down hallway after hallway, and to the only place where you can apparate away._

_"Grab my arm," I said. He grasped him arm strongly, and I apparated to Malfoy Manor._

_We walked through the huge wooden doors of our house, and ran up the stairs, not even acknowledging Mother and Father as we ran to my bedroom. I threw the door to my room open and plopped down on my green and silver bed, for Slytherin. Aries sad town on my desk chair. I stared at him, willing him to start telling me about what the Dark Lord had said._

_"What?" He asked, noticing me staring at him_

_"Well? What happened?" _

_"I can't say."_

_"Can't, or won't?"_

_"Fine, I don't want to tell you."_

_"Why?"_

_"Because, you'll yell, and scream."_

_"What if I promise that I won't?" _

_"You promise?" he asked, sounding like a 12 year old kid, not a 17 year old adult._

_"Promise." I confirmed._

_"Alright. He asked me to join. I said no."_

_"You said no? HOW COULD YOU SAY NO? That's the greatest honor a person could have!" I yelled, breaking my promise. I jumped off my bed and walked closer to Aries._

_"I know, but-"_

_"You denied the Dark Lord? No one denies the Dark Lord! I did, though, to get him to talk to you, and you just turned him down? WHAT THE HELL?"_

_"But-"_

_"How can you be such an idiot? We are going back, and you'll tell him that you want to join! Right now!" I said, grabbing his arm and starting to pull Aries out of my room._

_"LISTEN TO ME!" he screamed as he ripped his arm out of my grasp, "I don't want to join! I want a life that doesn't end with me being killed or ending up in Azkaban! You might, but I don't."_

_I stared at my brother, as if seeing him for the first time. _

_"I don't want to be killed, or end up in Azkaban. We won't! We'll survive, and we'll kill off all the bad blood, so there are only those who are pure, like us, left."_

_"I don't want the mudbloods and half-bloods to live, but I don't want to be the one to kill them." _

_"Why?"_

_"I don't want to be a murderer." he whispered._

_"And you think I do? I don't! But if I have to kill someone for the greater good, I will!"_

_"Well, I won't!"_

_"You're such a coward!" I spat out._

_"Am not!"_

_"Yes, you are! You're too much a chicken to kill a filthy mudblood! They're barely even human! It's like killing a filthy bug, but you're too much of a coward to even do that."_

_"I'm not a coward."_

_"Yes, you are!" I retaliated._

_"I'M NOT!" Aries screamed as he jumped up from the desk chair. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand. Before I could react, Aries had his wand pointed toward me. A flash of purple light came toward me, and I felt as if I had been shocked by lightning. I felt the electric shock flow through my veins, and I screamed with the pain that was traveling through my body. When the pain finally subsided, I looked up at Aries with hate. I saw regret etched on every part of his face._

_"Lucius, I'm so sorry!"_

_I kept staring at him, as if he had said nothing. Aries started to walk toward me, and crouch down where I was laying down on the floor in a fetal position. He reached out his hand toward my shoulder to comfort me, but I slapped his arm away._

_"DON'T! ...Don't touch me."_

_"Lucius… I'm so sorr-"_

_"Save it. Get out."_

_"Lucius-"_

_"GET OUT!"_

_"But, brother-"_

_"We are no longer brothers."_

_Aries started at me, and I saw his eyes starting to water, but it could have been a trick of the light. I sat up slowly and put my back to Aries._

_"Lucius! You can't really mean that!" He said, his voice cracking slightly._

_"GET OUT!" I screamed_

_I heard Aries' footsteps cross my rather big bedroom. Then, I heard the door creak open, and slam shut. _

_XxXxXx_

_The next day, I walked down the stairs to the kitchen for breakfast. I arrived in the kitchen and noticed that it was eerily quiet. Our house-elf, Willie, wasn't running around and making breakfast. Then, I saw that Father wasn't sitting down at the kitchen table, reading the _Daily Prophet. _It was rather weird. I walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, hoping to see Mother sitting down on the couch, but she wasn't. I ran upstairs, looking for either one of my parents. I ran straight to my parents' room and saw Mother and Father sitting down on their bed. Father had his arm around Mother's shoulders, and her head was laid on Father's chest, and Father was staring into space._

_"Mother? Father? What happened?" _

_They seemed to be snapped out of their trance, and they looked up at me. I saw tear streaks down Mother's cheeks. _

_"Your brother… he-" Mother started, but started sobbing again instead._

_"What happened to Aries?"_

_"He left!" Mother yelled, then put her head back down onto Father's chest. Father held out his hand, and in it was a piece of parchment._

_"Read it."_

_I hesitantly reached forward and grabbed the parchment, and read the message._

_**My family,**_

_**By the time you read this, I'll be gone. I'm sorry that I disgraced you and the Malfoy name. I'm sorry for being such a coward, but I'll be better! I'll be brave! You just wait. I'm not a coward.**_

_**Aries**_

_I looked up from the note Aries had written. He had run away, because of me. It was all my fault._

**A/N: Well, that's Aries' story. Hope it was exciting and awesome and stuff. :D**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Chapter 15? Already? Weird…**

**Anyway! Here's a little recap on what happened in chapters 13 and 14:**

**13: Lucius got his Dark Mark and persuaded Voldy the Moldy to talk to Aries, his brother, so that he could join the Death Eaters. Aries says that he doesn't want to, they argue, Lucius calls Aries a coward, and then Aries agrees to see Voldemort. Lucius apparates himself and Aries under the Ministry to Death Eater HQ. Lucius gets locked out of the room where Voldy and Aries were talking.**

**14: Aries leaves the room, and Lucius keeps annoying him about telling him what they had talked about. Aries said that he'd tell Lucius later. The brothers get home and Aries tells Lucius that he said no when Voldy asked him to join his army. Lucius yells, calls Aries a coward, and Aries freaks out. He curses Lucius, using the electric-shock spell on him, and Lucius says that they are no longer brothers. Aries runs away, leaving a note for his family saying that he'll be better and he'll be brave, and that he'll prove that he's not a coward.**

**Disclaimer: It's 2:30am, I have a final tomorrow, sorry today, I'm to tired too come up with anything witty to say, so I own nothing.**

"That was the last time I ever saw Aries," Lucius said, looking down at his cup of tea that Narcissa had given him while he was telling the story of Aries.

"Have you heard from him since?" Mr. Weasley asked, hoping that he had, and that he knew where Aries might be.

"…Yes…"

"Can you tell us what he said?" Harry asked.

Lucius sighed and stood up from the couch. He walked over to a table that was up against one of the walls of the living room in Malfoy Manor, and opened one of the drawers. Harry and Mr. Weasley heard he sound of paper being moved around, and they looked at each other with a matching confused look on both their faces. Lucius rummaged around in the drawer for a few moments, and then turned around with a wrinkled envelope in his hand. He walked back over to the couch and sat back down.

"I got this letter a few months ago. I couldn't throw it away, because Aries had written it. I regret making him run away, I regret everything that happened, so I kept it. It doesn't say much, though." Lucius confessed as he looked down at the envelope for a second, and then handed it to Mr. Weasley.

"We'll make sure it's returned to you," Mr. Weasley promised.

"Thank you, Arthur."

"We'll be back if we learn anything, and please, tell us if Aries contacts you," Mr. Weasley said as he and Harry stood up from the couch that they had shared.

"Will do."

Lucius stood up and showed to two visitors to the door, and closed it after them.

"Father? What did they want to know about Aries?" Draco asked as he came over to the front door where Lucius was still standing.

"Nothing, Draco. Go help your mother," Lucius replied, looking down at his son. He saw the look in Draco's eyes that he had seen once to many times, the look that meant that he was about to argue with him. Draco opened his mouth whine, or plead, or argue with his father. He had worked up a huge speech about why he should know about why his old school mate and his old school mate's father had arrived at their house, unannounced, asking Lucius questions, but before he could say anything, Lucius shouted, "NOTHING!"

Draco stared at his father, seeing a look of fury and anger in his eyes that Draco had not seen in a long time. The last time Draco had seen the small light of anger in his father's eyes was during the war when he found out that Snape was dead. Lucius and Snape had been close friends, and learning that Voldemort had killed his close friend made something snap inside Draco's father, and he felt as if he needed revenge. It was a look of vivid rage that scared the hell out of Draco, and he knew to keep out of his father's way when the spark was in his eyes. Draco backed off and walked into the kitchen to help his mother, and heard Lucius stomp up the stairs to the hall of guest bedrooms.

Lucius ran up the stairs, and flew the door open to one of the 15 guest bedrooms in the huge hallway. When he opened the door, he saw a man laying down in the bed, twirling a wand in between him fingers, and staring off into space. His blue eyes were glazed over, showing that he was deep in thought.

"ARIES!" Lucius screamed, and Aries quickly jumped out of his trance, almost dropping his wand, and looked up at Lucius.

"Hello, brother, how are-"

"What the hell did you do?" Lucius spat out.

"What do you mean?"

"What did you _do?_ Two men just came to my house asking questions about you, so you tell me right now what you've been doing when you sneak out ever night. I know you're not meeting some girl, so tell me NOW!" Lucius yelled.

Aries started at Lucius, seeing this strange anger for the first time.

"Actually, I _have _been meeting a girl. Just not in the way you think," Aries said, smirking. He started laughing, and Lucius cringed. His laugh sent shivers down Lucius' spine. It sounded so creepy and evil and it was so unnatural.

"What do you mean?" Lucius asked cautiously.

"That mudblood Hermione, I happen to have her captive." Aries said, and he started laughing again.

"What are you doing to her?" Lucius asked, secretly not wanting to know.

"You know, torturing her for information on that Potter boy and the Order." he answered, as if it was the simplest and most common thing to be doing to a person in the whole world.

Lucius stared at his brother, finally seeing how messed up and crazy he turned out. After spending a few years in St. Mungo's for suicide watch, Aries was never the same. He had come to seek shelter at Malfoy Manor a few months ago, begging Lucius for his forgiveness. Lucius forgave him, but never forgot what happened.

"You act like this is crazy, but as I remember, you did the exact same thing to millions of other people, right Lu-y? And you called me a coward for not joining you. I'm not a coward." Aries said, sounding crazier and crazier by the moment.

"Get out of my house. I don't want that kind of stuff being mixed up with my family again, and don't call my Lu-y." Lucius demanded.

"C'mon, Lu-y! Join me!" Aries pleaded, jumping up from the bed and standing in front of Lucius.

"I don't want to be the one to put you in Azkaban, but if you don't leave in the next 10 minutes, I will personally bring you to the prison myself. And if you call my Lu-y one more time, I will hex you to oblivion."

"Look who the coward is now! Oh, how the tables have turned and the mighty have fallen."

"OUT! NOW!" Lucius screamed.

"Fine, fine, I'm leaving." Aries said, as if being kicked out of his brother's home happened everyday.

He waved his wand, and everything that he owned flew into the open trunk. "You'll come crawling back to me, you just wait and see."

"Doubt it," Lucius answered while rolling his eyes.

"See 'ya, Lu-y!" Aries said as he started laughing.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Lucius screamed at the room, but Aries had already apparated away, leaving the chilling echo of his laugh in Lucius' brain.

**A/N: Well, we get to see some of Aries' crazy side, and Lucius' annoying childhood nickname! Yay for nicknames! **

**Review and all that jazz!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Well, here's chapter 16! Yay! BTW-Holy-Frick-In-A-Bucket it's long! Longest chapter yet!**

**Disclaimer: Please don't make me say it again, it was hard enough to say the first time.**

Harry and Mr. Weasley arrived back at The Burrow after meeting with Lucius. Mr. Weasley ran inside to tell his wife about everything that they had learned, and Harry ran inside to tell Ron. Harry ran up the stairs, two at a time, excited for Ron to also learn the new information about Hermione's captor. He kept running, but right before Harry reached the door and was about to turn the knob that led to the bedroom that he and Ron shared, Harry remembered that Ron was no longer in the house. He took his hand off of the door knob, and moved toward the stairs and sat down. Harry stared off into space, feeling incredibly alone.

After who knows how long, Ginny came to the stairs and sat down next to Harry. Harry didn't even acknowledge that Ginny had sat down next to him. He was to wrapped up in his own thoughts of his two best friends, and how he had no idea where they are or if they were safe or even alive. Harry put his elbows on his knees, and his head in his hands. He rubbed his eyes and hunched over, hoping that the tears that were swimming in his eyes won't fall. Ginny put a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder, and rubbed his back in circles, hoping to give him some sort of ease.

Harry wanted nothing more than to be able to go out and know exactly where Hermione was, and save her from the horrible place she was probably stuck in. He wanted Ron to come home, or to know where he is, so that he could bring Ron home safe. Harry felt so helpless and useless, and he wished with all his heart that he could help in some way.

Ginny kept rubbing Harry's back, hoping that she could help him somehow. She saw the sadness in his eyes whenever someone mentions Hermione or if he gets a thought about Ron. Ginny hated seeing Harry so sad all the time, but she guessed that's how people felt when your two best friends go missing. Ginny knew how he was feeling because she was feeling the same thing. Her brother had gone missing, and so had the one girl who was like a sister to her. Ginny still thought that Hermione was dead, and that getting everyone's hopes up was useless, but she offered comfort and advice whenever she could.

Then, Harry and Ginny heard the kitchen door open and slam shut. They both slightly jump, and their heads jerked up. The sound of someone running into the house and stomping up the stairs echoed up to where Ginny and Harry were sitting. Then, an out-of-breath ginger appeared from the bottom of the stairs, screaming for everyone to come downstairs to him. Harry's eyes brightened, and realized that his voice was a voice that he would recognize anywhere. Ginny, catching on before Harry, ran ahead and jumped into her brother's arms, giving him a gigantic hug.

"You GIT! We thought that they had take you! That you were dead! You complete fool!" Ginny screamed at Ron when she backed away from the bone-crushing hug. She started hitting and punching Ron, while Ron kept screaming about 'wasting time.' Then, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley ran down the stairs, fallowed by George.

"Yea, I'm back. No time to explain anything now. They're attacking Diagon Alley, and we need to go, _NOW!" _Ron yelled. Everyone looked at each other not needing to ask who the 'they' Ron was referring to was. Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and apparated her to Diagon Alley and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley fallowed after them. Only George and Ron were left at The Burrow.

"George, I-"

"No! You promised!" George yelled at Ron. Ron looked into his brother's eyes, and saw that he looked like he had aged a hundred years. His eyes were filled with fury and sadness.

"I know! I just… couldn't handle it anymore!"

"Couldn't handle it? You have GOT to be joking!"

"I'm sorry! I know that I said-"

"I remember. There's no need to repeat your lies."

"George! They weren't lies! I swear!" Ron pleaded.

"Not lies? You promised you wouldn't leave if I didn't! I was ready to end my damn life!"

"I know! I was there! I stopped you!"

"I was freaking there! I know what happened. I was holding my wand, ready to end it easily, without pain, when you came in. You started saying that life was hard for you too, and how you lost a brother and now your soul mate. You said that it was just as difficult, like it was for me."

"And it was! It still is!"

_"THEN WHY'D YOU RUN AWAY? _I could have helped you, like you helped me! You promised that you wouldn't leave me, and that I wouldn't leave you. But guess what, Ron! YOU LEFT! You left like him…" George whispered the last sentence so quietly that if Ron hadn't been looking right at him, he wouldn't have known that George had said anything.

"I didn't leave! I came back!"

"Save it. We have to go save some people, remember?" George said coldly, right before he apparated away to Diagon Alley.

Ron screamed, and punched the wall next to him, but instantly regretted it once he felt the surge of pain flow through his hand. He swore loudly and quickly healed himself, then apparated to Diagon Alley to join his family.

XxXxXx

When Harry felt air finally enter his lungs after apparating with Ginny, he looked around, noticing the gory scene in front of him. Most of the shops were on fire, with smoke seeping out from the broken windows. There was glass all over the street, and there were people running in every direction. Some of the shops weren't even standing anymore, and Harry suspected that someone had blown them up. There were bodies all over the streets, some alive and some dead. People were screaming and children were crying. Harry looked around, noticing how over-populated it was, and realizing that it was the end of August, when Hogwarts students would be getting their book and supplies for school. He looked closer at the bodies on the ground and saw that most of them were only kids, some as young as 11 years old. It made Harry disgusted and sick, and he felt that he needed to help everyone, but he couldn't move. He was planted in the one spot, unable to tear his eyes away from the traumatic street in front of him and run off to fight. Harry faintly heard Ginny screaming his name from beside him, and someone tugging on his arm. Everything felt like it was in slow motion. Then, someone pushed him down, and he landed on the pavement. Then, he felt someone land on top of him, and saw a flash of green light strike right where he had been standing.

"You- STUPIFY- idiot! You almost- AVIS, OPPUGNO- got yourself- CONFRINDO- killed!" Ginny yelled at Harry, pointing her wand at cloaked Death Eaters and shouting spells at them as she got off of Harry and put her hand out towards him to help him up off of the pavement.

"Thanks," Harry said, grabbing her hand and lifting himself upward. He took out his wand and started helping Ginny with a duel she was in. Then, another Death Eater joined the duel. Harry was fighting with the new Death Eater, and Ginny was fighting the original one. Harry stunned his opponent, but Ginny was still in a heated battle with hers. Harry was stepping in to help Ginny, pointing his wand toward the Death Eater across from her, but Ginny used a spell to make her opponent fly backwards against the brick wall that was behind him.

"Go and start checking the bodies. If anyone's alive, get them somewhere safe and heal them, alright?" Ginny said.

Harry nodded and ran off to a woman who was face-down on the pavement. He kneeled down beside her and gently pulled her to her side. Her eyes were open wide and glazed over. Harry grabbed her wrist, looking for a pulse, and found none. Then, he looked down at her stomach, and noticed the slight bump at her waist-line. Harry's eyes widened with shock when he realized that the poor woman was pregnant. He felt so disgusted that those vicious Death Eaters would kill an innocent by-stander, who not only did nothing to them, but was also with child. They not only killed a soon-to-be mother, but also an unborn child. He felt his hands clench into tight fists, and his nails jabbing his palms. Harry felt so angry and outraged by the Death Eaters. He felt the need to go out and fight them, the need to go out and destroy them.

Harry shook his head, trying to calm himself down. He didn't want to run into some fight, mad with rage, and end up doing something he'll regret. Harry needed to help the people who were laying on the pavement, who were sitting in their own blood, who needed to be saved. Harry wanted to help the people that were trying to cry out for help, but couldn't.

He kept running down the street, stopping at every body, trying to find people who were alive. He didn't find anyone who was still living, though. Harry kept running around, looking for someone who was still alive, but found no one. Then, it hit Harry. No one was alive. There were no survivors. At least from what Harry could see, no one was living. He started running up and down the street, yelling for anyone who was alive to yell out to him, but he heard nothing. Harry kept running up and down, still screaming for anyone who was alive to scream out for help.

Then, after what seemed like hours that were actually a few short minutes, Harry heard a small whimper. It was so quiet that Harry wasn't sure that he even heard it, but then, the whimper grew slightly louder. As Harry fallowed the groan, he found himself in a dark and creepy alleyway. There was someone laying face-down on the ground, curled up into a tiny ball. He quickly ran toward the person and bent down next to them. Harry turned over the body, to find a little girl, who looked around seven years old. The young girl had tear stains running down her dirty cheeks. Her body was curled up into a tight ball and her black curls were matted to her head with sweat.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked the young girl. She shook her head slightly, then raised her hand to touch her head as she moaned.

"What hurts?" Harry asked as he reached out his arm and put it around the girl's shoulders. Then, he pulled her upward so she was sitting up and leaning against Harry's chest.

"H-head… arm… leg…" she trailed off. The girl's eyes fluttered closed.

Harry took out his wand, ready to heal her if he could.

"Does it feel broken?" He asked.

She nodded.

"Do you remember what happened?" Harry asked, still holding her against his chest, hoping to give her some comfort and trying to take her pain away.

"C-crucio…" She trailed off, her tears falling faster.

Harry gasped, hating the new Death Eaters even more. Voldemort's followers had never tortured a small child, they get the killing over with. Harry stroked the young girl's hair, hoping to soothe her.

"…purple light…"

Harry looked down at the girl. Harry had never heard of a spell with purple light, only purple flames, and that couldn't be it because when Hermione was hit with the spell she couldn't move, yet alone talk.

"What did the purple light feel like?" he asked.

"Elec-rik shock"

"Electric shock?" Harry asked, smiling at the small 6 year old who still sometimes mixed up her words.

The small girl nodded.

Then, Harry remembered what Lucius had told them about Aries: _A flash of purple light came toward me, and I felt as if I had been shocked by lightning. I felt the electric shock flow through my veins. _

"Do you remember what he looked like?" Harry asked, getting hopeful and excited that she might have seen Aries.

She shook her head.

"Did he do anything else?" Harry asked.

The young child took Harry's hand that was stroking her hair and moved it so that Harry's palm was touching the middle of her back. It was covered with sticky liquid and when Harry pulled back his hand, his palm was red with blood.

"Merlin… what happened?" he asked.

"…Sectumparva."

"Was that the spell?"

She nodded, wincing. The girl opened her eyes and looked up at Harry. Her eyes were so brown that they almost looked black.

Harry started to stand up and trying to bring the small child with him. He wanted to get her to St. Mungo's.

"NO NO- AHHHHHHH!" she screamed out in pain. Harry looked down in shock.

"Is it really that painful?" Harry asked. She answered him by screaming again. Harry was about to sit back down when he heard loud, thundering footsteps coming towards him and the small girl in his arms. He quickly picked her up in his arms, cradling her wedding-style, and she started yelling in pain again.

"I'm sorry," He said as he started running away from the footsteps that were coming towards them. He ran into one of the only shops that were still somewhat standing, and hid behind a wall that was half fallen. Then, he laid the girl down with her head in his lap.

Harry started thinking about how he could possibly get her to St. Mugno's. There was a huge battle going on, so it would be difficult to walk through it, carrying the girl. He can't apparate there, because it would probably hurt her even more, and there was a huge possibility of him splinching the girl. Harry was horrible at healing people, even when he was familiar with the spell that was used to hurt them. Harry had never heard of this Sectumparva spell before, and he had no idea how one would possibly heal it.

The small girl started crying noisily and trying to clutch her back.

"I'm going to turn you over, so I can see your back, alright?" Harry said. She nodded shakily and Harry rolled her on her side so that her back was facing Harry. The back of her shirt was ripped everywhere, yet still hanging onto her body. Harry was able to see her whole back because it was cut so much. There was a large deep cut that started at her neck and trailed all the way down her back, then stopped at the bottom of her spine, at her hips. It was so deep that Harry could see bone in some places. It was still bleeding. Harry looked down at himself, and noticed that he was also drenched in blood.

"Merlin…" He whispered.

Harry had no idea how to heal the huge cut the wizard way, so he decided to try using some muggle ways of healing. Harry took off his jacket and pressed it against the girl's back, trying to stop the bleeding, but it was useless. She had already a lot of blood and she looked really pale. It was scaring Harry, because there was nothing he could do but wait for someone to find them.

"I'm going to roll you back over, okay?" Harry said, and when the girl nodded, he rolled her back onto her back, the back of her head back in his lap. Harry started stroking her black hair.

"So, what's your name?" Harry asked with a small smile toward the girl.

"Sutton," she replied, sending a very tiny smile toward Harry.

"It's nice to meet you, Sutton, I'm Harry."

Sutton's eyes widened, realizing who Harry was.

"H-Harry Potter?" she asked in wonder.

Harry nodded with a chuckle.

"Can I see the scar?" Sutton asked.

Harry smiled and nodded again, lifting up the hair that was covering his lightning-bolt scar.

"Woa…" Sutton whispered.

"How old are you, Sutton?" Harry asked.

"Six!" she replied proudly.

"Wow, you're old!"

Sutton smiled loudly, being very proud of her age.

"I'm not _that _old!" she exclaimed.

"I'm much older. I'm eighteen."

"Woa, y-you're o-old," she said, her teeth chattering. Sutton started to shiver, too.

"Cold?" Harry asked, getting worried. From the little knowledge of healing that he knew, being cold wasn't good. It means that you don't have enough blood. It means that you're dying.

"Y-Yes."

Harry nodded and pulled out his wand, encircling the two of them in a bubble that made the air around them heat up slightly.

"Better?" Harry asked hopefully.

"A little," Sutton answered, still shivering.

"Good."

"It doesn't hurt anymore…" Sutton said dreamily.

"What doesn't hurt?"

"Nothing hurts."

"Oh."

That wasn't good. Harry also knew that when you don't feel the pain anymore, your not going to be living for much longer. He really wanted Sutton to live. She seemed like a sweet, young girl who was way to young to die.

"That's good! I'm better!" Sutton exclaimed happily, trying to sit up. When she did, her face turned chalk-white. "Ow…" she groaned. Harry gently grabbed her small shoulders and pulled her back down so that her head was resting on his lap again.

"Yea… don't do that."

Sutton laughed quietly and closed her seriously dark-brown eyes. "I'm tired," she mumbled after a few minutes.

"No, don't do that. Open your eyes. Keep talking to me." Harry replied, putting his hand gently on her cheek.

"I'm just going to rest them…"

"No, you're not. You're going to keep your eyes open."

"But I want to sleep," Sutton whined.

"Ooooooooor, you can tell me about your parents."

Sutton's eyes fluttered open and a small smile played at her puny lips.

"Mommy works at a book shop. I like books. She reads to me every night."

"And your dad?"

Sutton's smile fell from her face.

"Daddy's mean. He yells at me and Mommy and hurts her." she replied, "Can I sleep now?"

Harry looked down at Sutton. He wanted to hear her talking about a family who loves her, not a great mother and an abusive father. Harry felt a little part of him die, as he thought of how the sweet, innocent girl in his arms might have been getting abused. It scared him, because it reminded him of his own childhood.

"Does your dad hurt you?" Harry asked worriedly.

"Not always. He hurts Mommy more." she said, closing her eyes again.

"When was the last time he hurt you?" he asked.

"Today."

Harry gasped slightly, not expecting that answer. He was hoping for a 'months ago,' or 'years ago,' as an answer.

"What happened?"

"I wanted a toy. Daddy said I couldn't have it, but I really wanted it. I had a fit in the store, and Daddy took me away to the alley."

"Wait, a Death Eater didn't do this? You're father did?" Harry asked, feeling a huge surge of rage wash over him.

Sutton nodded slightly, with her eyes still closed.

"What's his name?" Harry asked. He wanted to make sure that this evil man paid for what he did to Sutton.

"…Daddy…"

Harry laughed slightly, thinking about how adorable it is that young kids can't remember their parents' names besides 'mom' and 'dad.'

"What's your last name?" he asked.

"…McLaughlin…"

"That's a nice last name, Sutton."

Sutton's smile grew across her small, soft face again as she nodded slightly.

"Can I sleep now?" she asked, still nodding slightly, as if nodding off to sleep.

"No no no no no no no, open your eyes, Sutton," Harry commanded.

"Okay," she said dreamily, but barely opening her eyes.

"Tell me a story." Harry commanded, trying to strain his neck from around the wall to see if it was safe to leave, but he still heard the sound of spells being casted.

"Can you tell me one?" she asked.

"No. That'll make you fall asleep."

"But I'm tired." Sutton whined again.

"Sucks. I wanna hear a story." Harry said.

"You're very nice, Harry. You've been very nice to me," Sutton said as she closed her eyes agin.

"That's not a very good story."

"Thank you, for finding me."

"When is the story coming in? And Sutton, open your eyes, please!" Harry exclaimed. What she was saying sounded an awful like a goodbye, and Harry didn't want her to say goodbye. He wanted Sutton to live, and live a happy long life. She was way to young to die.

"You're very kind. I'll remember that."

"Sutton, open your eyes." Harry commanded.

But she didn't open her eyes.

"Sutton? Please, Sutton, open your eyes. Please!" Harry started to plead.

But she didn't respond.

"No no no no no! You are not being murdered by your father!" Harry exclaimed, taking out his wand and making water pour on her face.

But she didn't open her eyes.

"NO! OPEN YOUR EYES!" He screamed.

Harry kept staring down at Sutton, feeling tears starting to fall from his face and onto Sutton's. Then, he heard footsteps come up behind him. Harry kept staring down at Sutton, and half covered her body with his own. He bended over his head, which was still laying on his lap. The footsteps stopped at Harry's side, but he didn't look up, he kept covering Sutton, hoping to protect her.

"Harry?" asked a familiar voice.

Harry still didn't look up at the familiar voice beside him. He wanted to keep Sutton safe, for at least a little while longer.

"Harry? Who's this?" they asked, kneeling down beside Harry. He felt a hand reach out and touch his shoulder. Harry finally turned his head and looked up at Ron, who was looking at him with a worried expression. Harry quickly turned away, trying to hide the tears that won't stop falling.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked.

"She won't open her eyes," Harry said, sitting up strait and resting his head on the wall behind him.

Ron looked down at Sutton, confused and worried. "What do you mean?"

"She won't open her damn eyes!" Harry exclaimed.

Ron looked closer at Sutton, and saw all the bruises and scratches all over her. Then, he noticed that Harry's jacket was tied tightly around her stomach, and was soaked in blood. Ron touched her wrist, feeling for a pulse, but found none.

"Harry, what happened?"

"Her dad… he killed her."

"Was he a Death Eater?" Ron asked in shock.

"No."

Ron's eyes widened with surprise. He felt anger wash over him. Ron was disappointed that a father would harm his child, when there was a huge fight going on.

Ron took a quick glance around the wall that Harry was leaning against, and saw that there were still many people fighting. Ron tired to think of a way that he could get him and Harry through the battle without getting hurt.

"Harry! We have to apparate to St. Mungo's, that's were everyone probably is."

"No. I'm not leaving Sutton." Harry said firmly as he stroked Sutton's hair.

"Alright, we'll take her with us."

Harry nodded slightly, and Ron grabbed on to Harry's and Sutton's arm. He then apparated away to St. Mungo's Hospital.

**A/N: Here's the end of the chapter! It was supposed to be MUCH longer, but I split it into two different chapters. **

**Review and all that jazz, please**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Chapter 17? Already? Wow… **

**Anyway, here's the second part of the fight, starting from where Ginny and Harry separate. **

**Also, there's a small bit of cursing, which I never did in this story, so sorry if it's kinda weird. **

**Also, I want to thank -Xx for all of your amazing reviews for each chapter, they never fail to make my heart go WHHEEE!**

**Disclaimer: -insert sigh here- I don't have so much money that I'd be set for life.**

Ginny had just touched down on the street at Diagon Alley. She almost fell over, for she was not used to apparating. Even though she was of age, she never learned how to apparate, and she didn't side-along apparate often either. She felt like she was going to puke her guts out and that she couldn't get enough air into her lungs. Long story short, Ginny did not like apparating. She was more of a broomstick-riding kind of girl.

Ginny quickly regained her strength and looked around. There were bodies everywhere, shops on fire, children screaming, babies crying. It was a horrible sight, and Ginny was sure that it would be in her nightmares for weeks. It made her feel guilty as hell for not getting there quicker. She started thinking that maybe if she was there, then all those people wouldn't be lying on the street, or children wouldn't be running around looking for parents who were seriously injured, or worse.

Ginny heard the loud _crack _of someone apparating, and saw someone materialize out of black mist a few yards in front of where she and Harry were standing. Ginny was instantly aware that the person was a Death Eater, and was staring straight at Harry. She turned and looked toward him, and saw that he was staring into space. Ginny groaned loudly and started screaming his name, trying to get his attention, which didn't work. Ginny started tugging on his arm, and she looked up the street cautiously, and saw that the Death Eater was walking toward them.

"HARRY!" she screamed, and he still didn't snap out of it. Ginny looked up the street again, and the Death Eater had taken out it's wand and had it pointed toward Harry's head. Ginny's heart started to pound in her chest, fearing for herself and Harry. She heard the echo of the Death Eater starting to say the incantation for the curse that would kill either herself or Harry on impact. She saw the green light of the killingcurse coming her way. Ginny reacted on impulse. She jumped toward Harry, tackling him to the ground, and landing right on top of his stomach. Once the burst of green light past them, Ginny shot up off of Harry and started yelling curses down the street toward the Death Eater.

"YOU- STUPIFY- IDIOT! You almost- AVIS, OPPUGNO- got yourself- CONFRINDO- killed!" she screamed. Ginny had finally knocked the Death Eater off it's feet, but would be able to keep fighting after a few seconds to get his lazy butt off of the floor. She looked around for Harry, and saw that he was _still _laying on the stone street. Ginny rolled her eyes and stuck out her hand to help Harry.

"Thanks," he said as he grabbed Ginny's hand and stood up, at the exact same time that the Death Eater stood up.

"Are you gonna help me _now?_" Ginny asked as Harry pulled out his wand and rolled his eyes.

The couple started dueling the Death Eater, and were easily winning. Soon, another Death Eater appeared from black mist, and Harry started dueling that Death Eater, as Ginny continued to duel the original one. Ginny barely noticed when Harry stunned his opponent, she was too busy dueling her own. When Ginny was in a fight, everything else was forgotten. All her energy was focused on beating the pulp out of the enemy, which she did.

After she made the Death Eater fly down the street and crash into a shop, she turned to Harry and commanded him to find survivors, while she went off in the opposite direction to continue beating the crap out of the people who stole her best friend from her. While she was running, she literally ran into a Death Eater.

"Well, hello sexy." he said.

Ginny rolled her eyes and pointed her wand into the Death Eater's face, so that it was touching the cheek-part of the Death Eater's mask. "You're not really my type," she replied with a glare.

"Wait a minute. _You're _a Weasley!"

"Really? What made it so obvious? The ginger hair, or the freckles?" Ginny asked sarcastically.

"It was actually the fact that we were forced to memorize your faces, so that if we ran into any of the Weasleys, we would know who they were."

"Well _that's _not creepy at all," Ginny replied sarcastically, with her wand still in the Death Eater's face.

"Well? Are you going to curse me or somethi-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Ginny had casted a Bat-bogey hex on him. The Death Eater was now being chased around by his own boogers shaped as bats. Ginny had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. She always found the Bat-bogey hex amusing.

After a few seconds of the Death Eater running around, he casted the counter-curse and pointed his wand toward Ginny. "That's the best you've got?" He teased.

Ginny groaned and rolled her eyed as a shot of red light was sent her way. She quickly dodged the stunning spell and sent one toward the Death Eater, who dodged it easily.

"Really? That's your best? And people said you were a good dueler…" the Death Eater trailed off while shaking his head.

Ginny could feel her anger rising. This Death Eater was seriously pissing her off. She didn't understand why he had to talk so much. Why couldn't he just fight her like a normal Death Eater?

"_Levecorpus!" _she yelled toward the Death Eater, who, again, dodged the spell easily.

"With fighting skills like that, you'll quickly end up like that mudblood friend of your's," he said, but obviously regretted saying it, because he quickly smacked his hand over the mouth area on his mask.

"What did you say?" Ginny said.

"I said nothing! Nothing important!" he replied shakily.

"You know where she is?" Ginny asked, her voice getting louder with each word she says.

"NO! No, I don't…" he trailed off.

Ginny could feel her blood boiling. She was griping her wand so tight that her knuckles were turning white. All Ginny wanted to do was _Avada Kedavera _his ass for even thinking about Hermione, yet alone talking about her, but she had a _much _better idea.

"PORTIFICUS TORTALUS!" she screamed at the Death Eater. He instantly stopped moving, telling Ginny that she had hit her mark. Then, Ginny took the few steps it took to get to the Death Eater, who was frozen in place. His eyes were widened with fear and Ginny felt satisfied to show him that she had AMAZING dueling skills. Ginny, then, 'accidentally' pushed the Death Eater over, so he landed painfully on his back. The Death Eater moaned loudly and Ginny laughed just as loudly. She kneeled down next to the frozen Death Eater and said, "That's not even a fraction of the pain you're going to feel when I get you to the rest of the Weasleys." Then, Ginny stood up and levitated the Death Eater into a shop and took his wand. She also stunned him, and transfigured a desk into a cage, and put him in it, to make sure that he doesn't get away. Then, she made sure she knew which shop she had trapped the Death Eater in, and ran out to go find one of her many family members.

It took a while, and a lot of running, but Ginny finally found her mother. Ginny had asked her to help with the Death Eater after explaining everything that happened, and she was happy to oblige. She had led Mrs. Weasley to the shop where the Death Eater was, and Ginny was happy to see that he was still frozen, stunned, and still in a cage.

"Wow, Ginny. You really wanted to make sure he didn't escape," Mrs. Weasley said. She wasn't sure if she should be proud of her daughter, or freaked out.

"I want to know where Hermione is," she replied simply.

Mrs. Weasley opened the cage, and grabbed the Death Eater's arm.

"Wait, let's take off his mask first." Ginny said, reaching for the Death Eater's face. She quickly pulled off the mask, and saw that he looked around the same age as herself, maybe younger. Ginny was reminded of Draco, and how he became a Death Eater when he was 16, and didn't have a choice. But Ginny had a good feeling about this boy wanting to become a Death Eater.

"He's so young," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Let's just go," Ginny replied.

Then, Ginny grabbed the Death Eater's arm and Mrs. Weasley apparated them to St. Mungo's Hospital, where everyone was supposed to meet up if the got hurt of needed help.

XxXxXx

Mr. Weasley never liked to fight. He always tried to solve things in a non-violence sort of way. Mr. Weasley always thought that he was a better healer than a fighter, and he was more than glad to be helping the healers at St. Mungo's instead of fighting the Death Eaters at Diagon Alley. Mr. Weasley would love to fight whenever necessary and whenever to protect his loved ones, but would rather be healing than causing the injuries.

Mr. Weasley had been doing a spell on a man who had a piece of glass in his calf. Mr. Weasley had already taken the glass out, and was healing the huge wound when he heard the voices of his wife and only daughter coming from the front desk.

"You're all healed, and you can go. You first have to go to the front desk and fill out some paper work though," Mr. Weasley said to the man with a huge smile.

"Thank you," replied the man while shaking Mr. Weasley's hand. Mr. Weasley and the man parted ways, as the man went to the front desk and Mr. Weasley went to go find his wife and daughter.

After asking many people about his family and walking through the maze-like hallways of the hospital, he finally found Ginny and Mrs. Weasley in one of the head-healer's offices. To his surprise, though, they weren't alone. Ginny was sitting on the desk, indian-style, Mrs. Weasley was sitting on one of the chairs, and a stunned-and-body-binded young boy was standing in the middle of the room.

"What the…" Mr. Weasley trailed off as he entered the office.

"Long story short, this idiot of a Death Eater let it slip that he knows information about Hermione." Ginny said.

"Really?" Mr. Weasley asked as his excitement started to build up inside of him.

"Really really. So, now, we have to wake him up." Ginny said.

"Shouldn't we wait for everyone else? They'd all want to know about it." Mr. Weasley suggested.

"That's a good idea… alright, we'll wait." Mrs. Weasley said.

Then, as if on cue, Bill, Charlie, Percy and George burst into the office, almost taking the door off of it's hinges.

"All the Death Eaters are gone." Bill said.

"From what we saw, at least," Charlie added.

Then, Charlie looked over at the Death Eater who was standing in the room. "Who's this sad son-of-a-bitc-"

"Don't use that kind of language, Charlie," Mrs. Weasley interrupted.

"Alright, well who is he?" Charlie asked, rephrasing his question.

"A Death Eater I dueled. He made a comment about Hermione. I thought that we should question him or something." Ginny replied.

"Wait wait wait… he knows stuff about Hermione?" Bill asked while pointing to the Death Eater.

"Well, I think he does. Even if he doesn't, he could know other things about Death Eaters that would be awesome to know." Ginny replied.

"So, who are we waiting for?" Charlie asked.

"Harry and-"

Before Mr. Weasley could finish his sentence, Ron ran through the door, out of breath from running through the hospital. A few seconds later, Harry ran in.

"Hey guys. How was your-what the hell are you carrying?" Ginny said, breaking off from what she was originally going to say when she saw that Harry was cradling something in his arm with a huge amount of care.

Harry looked up and showed everyone that he was cradling a small child, bridal-style. When he looked up, everyone saw tear streaks that had cleaned his dirty cheeks when they had fallen down his face.

"Her name is Sutton, and I swore that I'd find her killer." Harry said, sounding cold, harsh, and determined.

"Do you know who it was?" Mr. Weasley asked. All thoughts of the Death Eater were forgotten, and everyone was staring at Harry and Sutton.

"Her dad…" Ron replied for Harry, who was looking back down at Sutton.

"WAIT WAIT WAIT! Her _father _killed her, while Death Eaters were battling it out and trying to kill people? Her goddamn _FATHER?_" George exclaimed.

Everyone turned their heads from Harry's direction to George's, all at the same time. All except Ron, who had already been glancing at George every-so-slightly since he had entered the room. George looked back at everyone with a what-are-you-staring-at kind of look.

"What?" George asked.

"You just talk-"

"Nothing! Nothing!" Mrs. Weasley interrupted. She hoped that if they didn't make a big deal out of it, George would keep talking.

"Did you get this asshole's name?" George asked, ignoring everyone who was still staring at him.

"…I got his last name. McLaughlin." Harry answered slowly. Everyone was looking at George as if someone would say the wrong thing and he'd stop talking again.

"I'll help you, Harry," George said with a small smile, "A child should not be injured, yet alone killed. Then, add the fact that she was killed by her father. It just makes it whole other level of wrong."

"I know what you mean. Thanks, George." Harry replied.

"Harry? Shouldn't you put Sutton down somewhere?" Ginny asked.

The look that Harry gave her was filled with more sadness than anyone had ever seen, yet more anger than anything too. It was a weird combination of emotions to see on Harry's face.

"Harry, I'll get a bed placed just outside the door, and I'll get a nurse to watch Sutton, okay?" Mr. Weasley suggested, shooting Harry a sympathy-smile.

Harry stared at Mr. Weasley for a few seconds, and nodded slightly. Mr. Weasley walked out the office door, and Harry quickly fallowed.

"Ron, what the hell happened?" Ginny asked harshly. Even though Ginny was happy that Ron was back, she was still angry about him leaving.

"I don't know! Harry only told me that her name was Sutton, her dad killed her, and she wouldn't open her eyes." Ron replied.

"She wouldn't open her eyes? What does that mean?" Ginny asked.

"It means she went to sleep. Went to a better place. Died." George replied as he stared off into space.

Everyone looked over at George again. Everyone in the room was positive that George was thinking about Fred at that moment. Whenever he thought about his twin, George would stare off into space, his eyes would glaze over, and he'd frown every so slightly. Then, George seemed to have pushed all thoughts of Fred out of his mind, because he shook his head slightly and blinked rapidly, as if he was trying to stop tears from falling.

"Oh." Ginny replied.

Then, Mr. Weasley and Harry walked back into the room.

"Well? Are we gonna heal this jerk and see if we can get our Hermione back?" Ginny asked.

Harry and Ron looked at Ginny with confused expressions. They didn't have the whole Ginny-Death-Eater thing explained to them yet. So, while Ginny explained her whole fight to the two boys, Percy un-stunned and freed the Death Eater from his body-bind.

Once the Death Eater was free, he searched his pockets for his wand. Ginny coughed slightly and held up his wand and sent him a smirk.

"Hello, sexy. Fancy seeing you again." he replied, winking at her.

Ginny rolled her eyes. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Harry, with his fist clenched, walking toward the Death Eater. Then, before anyone could react, Harry punched the Death Eater in the face. The Death Eater hit his head off of the wall behind him, and yelped with pain.

"What the hell? I didn't do anything to-" The Death Eater stopped short when he opened his eyes and saw who had hit him.

Harry glared at the Death Eater, while everyone looked at the pair, jaws dropped and eyes wide. Then, Harry turned around and saw everyone staring at him with a what-the-hell-did-you-do-that-for kind of look.

"Let's just say that I have a lot of anger towards Death Eaters, and this guy calling my girlfriend sexy didn't help." Harry replied as he walked away from the Death Eater, while Ginny looked toward Harry and blushed slightly.

"Didn't I say this would be painful?" Ginny said to the Death Eater.

"Whatever. Just so you all know, I'm not telling you anything, even if you torture me as bad as she's being tortured!" he exclaimed. Then, his eyes widened and he smacked his hand over his mouth, regretting saying something again.

"You have a _really_ big mouth," Ginny said as she sent another smirk toward the Death Eater.

"We don't torture people for information. Some people think that torture is evil, unlike you," Charlie said, glaring at the Death Eater.

"What? I don't think torture is something to celebrate! Where the hell did you get that idea?" the Death Eater replied, surprising everyone.

"Er… well you're a Death Eater… and Death Eaters torture people," Charlie said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah, but _I _don't torture people."

"So you haven't touched Hermione?" Ron asked.

"Never even seen her."

"Then how do you know about her?"

"It's common knowledge for us Death Eaters. Plus, you didn't exactly keep it a secret."

Ron grinned sheepishly, knowing that he was right.

"So, you just wanted to make me angry?" Ginny asked.

"I wanted a good fight," he answered simply.

"Oh, I'll show you a good fight," Ginny replied angrily as she grabbed her wand. Harry quickly walked over to her and gently touched Ginny's hand, which had her wand in it. She looked up into Harry's eyes, and saw that he was giving her a please-don't-start-this kind of look. Ginny sighed and put her wand back into her pocket. Harry never took his hand off of her's, and when her hand was finally free of her wand, Harry laced his fingers in between Ginny's.

"Anyway," Mr. Weasley said, sending a sharp glance toward Ginny and sitting down on one of the chairs. He then gestured for the young Death Eater to sit in the chair next to him. He shrugged and sat on the chair next to Mr. Weasley. "Would you like to tell me your name?"

"Nope."

"Will you tell me anyway?" Mr. Weasley pried.

The young Death Eater rolled his eyes and sighed. "Phillip."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Phillip." Mr. Weasley said with a forced politeness in his tone.

"Yeah, but you secretly want to kill me." Phillip replied with a smirk.

"You know you're probably going to go to Azkaban, right?" Mr. Weasley said, ignoring Phillip's comment.

"What? But I didn't hurt anyone! I've never hurt anyone! I'd never hurt anyone! Why would _I_ go to Azkaban if I've never killed anyone!" Phillip objected, speaking fast with his eyes wide with fear.

"It doesn't matter. You're wearing a Death Eater mask, and fighting on the Death Eater's side. That's enough to get you thrown in Azkaban for at least 3 years. But, there is a way we can help you." Mr. Weasley replied.

"How?" He asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously toward Mr. Weasley.

"It's easy, really. Tell us some information you know about your fellow Death Eaters." Mr. Weasley answered with a small shrug.

"I can't. Selling out the Death Eaters is a Death Sentence!" Phillip objected.

"Phillip, we _need _to know where everyone is being held captive. _We _don't want _our_ secrets told to the Death Eaters." Mr. Weasley pleaded.

"I'm sorry but I can't help you. They'll kill me!"

"Then they'll kill hundreds of other people! We're trying to stop that! We just need you to help us." Ginny interjected.

The room went silent. Everyone was staring at Phillip, hoping and praying that he would help them. Phillip's eyes darted all around the room, not wanting to look in anyone's eyes. He totally got where everyone was coming from, but he didn't want to be tortured and killed slowly and painfully for letting information slip to the very people who his boss was trying to kill.

"I'm sorry, but I can't…" Phillip replied, shaking his head.

"Phillip, even though we're above torturing you for answers, we're not above using Veritaserum to get answers out of you." Mr. Weasley said firmly, looking straight into Phillips eyes with more seriousness than anyone has ever seen from Mr. Weasley.

"Wait, what?" Phillip replied, looking scared.

"Trust me, I do not want to go out and get the potion, force you to drink it, then make you answer questions that you don't want to answer, but I will if you won't answer them now." Mr. Weasley said, just as firmly, and if possible, more seriously.

"If I willingly tell you, they will torture me. They will _kill me, _slowly, and painfully. He warned us that it would be painful if we told anyone any of our secrets, and I _really_ don't want to go through that."

"Fine, then we'll do this unwillingly." Mr. Weasley said as he got up from the chair. He walked out the door, and while he was out looking for the potion, the office room filled with people was silent. When Mr. Weasley came back, he had a small, purple bottle clutched in his hand.

**A/N: Weeeelllllll, that's the end of this veerrrryyy long chapter, and sorry with the kinda-semi-cliffhanger-ending. **

**Review and all that jazz, my loves.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/n: Hello, my lovelies! Here is the new installment of Getting Back Home by your's truly!**

**Disclaimer: I ain't famous, so I ain't J.K Rowling!**

Mr. Weasley was determined to make sure that Phillip wouldn't be killed by his fellow Death Eaters, and if making him drink Veritaserum will prevent his murder, Mr. Weasley would do it. So, when Mr. Weasley opened up the small purple bottle and poured the liquid down Phillip's throat, Mr. Weasley felt didn't feel the guilt that others might have felt.

"Phillip, can you tell us other Death Eater's names?" Mr. Weasley asked after giving Phillip the potion and seeing that it worked the second it was in his mouth. Phillip's eyes widened and glazed over, looking kind of dazed.

"Aries," Phillip replied in a raspy voice that barely sounded like his own.

"Anyone else?"

"Don't know their names."

"Why?"

"We're forbidden to tell each other our names, in case this happens."

"Do you know where Hermione is?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"No."

"Why did you kidnap her?"

"I didn't."

"Why did the other Death Eaters kidnap her?"

"To get information out of her."

"What kind of information?"

"Where Potter is, where the Order HQ is, is the Order trying to find them, what she said in her Patronus, Why-"

"Alright," Mr. Weasley said, cutting Phillip off, "What happens if you get that information?"

"We kill her."

"Do you have any idea where she is?"

"Far, _FAR_ underground."

"Why do you think that?"

"Someone told me."

"Who?"

"My sister Death Eater."

"As in, your real sister?"

"No, a Death Eater who's a girl."

"Would she know where Hermione is?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"She's holding her captive."

"Do you know anything about her?"

"She was in the same year as Hermione in Hogwarts."

"Do you know what house?"

"No."

"Do you _think_ you know what house?"

"Yes."

"Which one?"

"Slytherin."

"Why do you say that?"

"Most new Death Eaters were in Slytherin."

"What does she look like?"

"I don't know. We always keep our masks on if we are talking to other Death Eaters."

"Why?"

"Conceal our identity."

"Do the Death Eaters have a Headquarters?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Aries doesn't want there to be one place where all of us go. If someone found it, they would be able to arrest everyone. We have scheduled meetings at different places."

"When's the next meeting?"

"Tomorrow. Midnight."

"Where?"

"Directly in the middle of Quaker Forests."

"Why there?"

"It's too big for anyone to see us."

"What will you be talking about?"

"Information we get out of from people we took."

"Who have you taken?"

"Hermione Granger, Dennis Creevey, Lavender Brown."

"What have you learned from them?"

"I don't know yet."

"Have any of them been killed?"

"No."

"Are they planning on taking anyone else?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"I can't tell you." Phillip said firmly, his eyes becoming less dazed.

"So the potion wore off?" Mr. Weasley asked, his tone softening.

"Yep," Phillip said, popping his 'p.'

"Thank you," Mr. Weasley said, even though he knew that he should be thanking the potion.

"You're welcome?" Phillip replied, making his statement sound like a question.

Mr. Weasley chuckled softly and walked away from Phillip and over to the desk. He took a piece of parchment and a quill off of the desk and started to write down all the information that he had just learned.

Everyone else in the room were speechless. Harry and Ron were running the through the names of Slytherin girls who were in their year in their head, trying to think of possible people who might have kidnapped Hermione. Ginny was thinking about how Hermione wasn't dead, that she was wrong for being positive that she was, and how ashamed she was that she was so convinced that she wouldn't be able to survive. Mrs. Weasley was trying to remember where Quaker Forrest was. Bill and Charlie were beginning to plan their ambush on the Death Eaters that would be taking place the next night at midnight. Percy was trying to think of any place that was far underground where Hermione might have been kept. George was thinking about Fred, and how he had gone to Quaker Forrest with him. He felt horrible for thinking about his dead brother when he should have been thinking about Hermione and how to save her, but he had trouble thinking about anything other than Fred, which he hated.

Everyone was distracted with their thoughts to notice Phillip, who was sitting with his head in his hands and leaning over so his elbows were on his knees. No one saw the silent tears that were falling down his cheeks. No one knew that he was thinking about the many painful and torturous ways that Aries could use to kill him. No one noticed when he quickly sat up straight, and looked over at the desk were his wand was placed. No one noticed when he slowly reached over and grabbed his wand. But everyone noticed the loud crack that traveled throughout the office as he apparated away.

"Should we try to find him?" George asked quietly.

"No. Let him go. He doesn't know anything." Mr. Weasley answered with a sigh. They were going to let him go anyway, but he guessed that it was easier if he left by himself.

"So, what's the plan?" Ginny asked, wiping away her tears with a determined look on her face.

"You're not going." Mrs. Weasley said firmly.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked, her eyes wide with shock.

"It's too dangerous," Mrs. Weasley replied.

"What are you talking about? I _just _fought in a battle at Diagon Alley. I captured Phillip! I'm able to handle myself!" Ginny exclaimed, her voice's volume rising slightly.

"That was sudden, and I didn't have the chance to stop you. _This _is different. I would be a horrible mother if I didn't stop you from running into a fight in the middle of a frost."

"But you're letting Bill, Charlie, Percy, George, and Ron go!"

"They're older! They've had more experience!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.

"Percy? His first fight was The Last Battle!"

"Not true!" Percy lied.

"Stay out of this!" Ginny and Mrs. Weasley both screamed, in sync.

"Let's talk about this more later, alright?" Mr. Weasley said firmly.

"Fine."

"…Whatever…"

Mr. Weasley sighed and rubbed his eyes, feeling more tired than he ever had. "Let's all just go home. It's been a long day, and we can talk about our plan tomorrow mourning."

Everyone apparated to their houses, Ginny using side-alone with Harry. Right when they got inside, everyone fell into bed and instantly fell asleep. All but Ginny, who couldn't stop thinking about how Hermione was alive. She felt so horrible for believing so strongly that Hermione had been murdered, and how fast she lost her faith and hope. She kept imagining Hermione being disappointed in her, which stopped her from getting a blink of sleep.

**A/n: Please Review and all that jazz**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/n: Well, we're back with Hermione, and it gets…interesting…. Anyway: WARNING, my mind is scary and has decided to write gruesome stuff, and some of it could be in this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not even J.K Rowling in my dizziest daydreams (see what I did there?).**

The silence was beginning to drive Hermione mad. All she could hear was her own breathing, even when she was only breathing out of her nose. Hermione felt like the silence was going to swallow her whole, and that the silence would be the death of her, and not the crazy Death Eaters who wanted her dead. She wanted to pull out her wand and do some sort of spell to make her small prison a little noisy, but she felt that the Death Eaters would hear her. The dirty stone prison had a very loud echo, and she knew that her evil captors could probably hear the echo of every sound that she made in her cell, and she tried to make some sort of sound every few minutes to break the silence. Sometimes she tapped her nails on the stone, sometimes she would whistle, and sometimes she would hum a short note or two, but she was scared to do more than that, in case her captors felt the need to beat the crap out of her for making noise.

Right when Hermione was beginning to think that the silence was driving her crazy, she heard a loud bang. Then another, and another. It sounded like a bunch of spells hitting off the walls, as if there was a huge fight being fought in the stone hallways. Hermione quickly jumped up from where she was sitting, and ran toward the door, hoping to hear some voices of any clue as to what was going on. The bangs were getting louder and louder, as if they were coming towards her. Hermione smiled widely with new hope that it was Ron or Harry fighting their way towards Hermione's cell, coming to free her. She began to imagine Harry running in and hugging her as tightly as possible, spinning her around and yelling about how they had finally found her, and Ron kissing her with everything he had in him. Hermione felt tears begin to fall down her cheeks as she thought of seeing her two boys again. Then, she heard two of her captors voices, screaming in pain. It sounded like the jerk who's name began with 'ARI' and the girl. Hermione felt the need to jump up and down with excitement, knowing that someone was here to save her. There were more bangs and booms of spells ricocheting off the walls and they sounded like they were right outside the metal door of Hermione's prison.

Then, there was a loud scream that wasn't from one of her captors. Hermione's eyes widened, knowing the voice. She backed away from the door and her back hit the back wall. Hermione felt her stomach turn into knots and her head start to feel dizzy. She realized it wasn't a rescue, it was another kidnapping. She felt more tears fall from her face as she thought of the boy who was about to be thrown into her cell and probably tortured just like Hermione was. She felt like it was going to kill her to see it. Hermione shook her head, denying that the voice she heard belonged to one of her closest friends, denying that he was in a huge fight and now losing, denying that he was captured.

The metal door opened quickly with a loud creak, a boy was thrown into the cell, and the door was closed just as quickly. Hermione ran forward to her friend, who was face-down on the stone floor, and he groaned loudly. She turned him over so that he was now in his back, and Hermione looked into his familiar face. His eyes were open, thankfully, and he was looking around. Then, his eyes rested on Hermione's wet, brown ones.

"Hermione?" He asked, as if he wasn't sure if Hermione was a figure of his imagination, or if she was really there.

"Hey Neville," Hermione replied with a small, watery smile.

Neville lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Hermione, hugging her tightly. Hermione, not expecting the sudden embrace, fell backwards with Neville ending up on top of her. Then, Neville gasped in pain, his face turning white and his eyes widening. He rolled off Hermione so he was laying on the floor again, face up.

"Neville? Are you okay? What hurts?" Hermione asked softly, her voice filled with concern.

"I'm-fine," Neville grunted as he tried to sit up, but his face turned white, again.

"Lay down Neville! What hurts? I can probably heal you," Hermione said as she crawled over to the corner that her wand was lying in.

"How did you get that?" Neville asked loudly.

"Shh! Don't scream it out to the world," Hermione whispered.

"Sorry," Neville said, grinning sheepishly.

"So, what hurts?"

"My chest. There used some spell on me…" Neville trailed off as he looked down at his chest.

Hermione looked down, and for the first time noticed that his shirt was covered in blood.

"Neville, I have to take off your shirt, okay?" Hermione said, still speaking in a soft, contorting voice.

Neville nodded and Hermione gently pulled his shirt over his head, Neville grunted and groaned with the movement. Hermione looked down at his chest and saw three long, deep cuts going vertical across his torso and many smaller scrapes and cuts around them.

"Merlin…" Hermione trailed off as she kept staring at Neville's cuts.

"What?" Neville asked, his voice shaky and scared. He tried to sit up slightly so he could look at his chest.

"Don't do that," Hermione instructed as she gently put a hand on his forehead and pushed his head back down to the floor.

Hermione looked back down at the cuts on Neville's chest, trying to decide what spell to use. Then, she decided that she should heal them the muggle way: stitches. She waved her wand and a needle and thread appeared, and a bottle of alcohol to clean his cuts.

"Neville, this is going to hurt. A lot." Hermione warned.

Neville sighed and grimaced, "I'll live. You do what you have to do."

"Here's the thing, though. You can't scream too loudly." Hermione said, trying to figure out a way to make sure he won't scream. She didn't want the Death Eaters to hear and then come running in. She looked around for some sort of inspiration, and saw Neville's shirt. "Alright, you have to put this in your mouth, and bite down hard instead of scream, okay?" Hermione said, picking up the shirt gingerly. Neville nodded and Hermione stuffed it into his mouth.

Then, Hermione picked up the both of alcohol, ready to pour it on Neville's chest to clean the wounds.

"Ready?" She asked shakily. Hermione really didn't want to sow Neville's skin together or pour alcohol into his body.

Neville nodded curtly, signaling Hermione to start.

Hermione let out a long breath, and began pouring the alcohol on Neville's wounds. Neville's screams were muffled by his shirt, but they still cut through Hermione. He was kicking his legs and flailing his arms around his sides. Hermione grabbed one of his hands, hoping to give him some sort of comfort as she started to pour the alcohol into the second cut. He squeezed it tightly, so tightly that Hermione almost yelped. She kept muttering how sorry she was to Neville for putting him through this, and she kept praying that he would pass out because of the pain. Hermione finally finished cleaning out the three large cuts, but Neville was still screaming and grasping Hermione's hand tightly.

"I know, I'm _so_ sorry," Hermione said, feeling tears starting to fall from her cheeks. She took off her light cotton jacket and used her wand to rip it, so that she could dap Neville's cuts. Neville started kicking his legs harder and his muffled screams got louder.

"Shh, Neville. I know it hurts. I'm sorry," Hermione whispered, glancing toward his face. Neville's eyes were squinted shut, brows furrowed. He looked so pain-filled that it almost killed Hermione. She stopped dapping the cuts, let go of Neville's hand, and took out the needle and thread.

"Neville, this is going to hurt, probably even more than that just did. I'll try to be quick." Hermione said, putting the thread through the needle with shaky hands. Hermione started to thread Neville's skin back together. She weaved the needle in and out. Neville's muffled screams were louder than ever, and Hermione kept trying to stop her tears from falling from her face and into Neville's wounds. Hermione felt that every kick of Neville's legs or every yelp was a dagger through her.

When she finally finished stitching Neville up, she felt a surge or relief to see that Neville had passed out, but he was alive. Hermione let out a breath she didn't know that she had been holding in. She was so happy to see that Neville would be fine. She leaned forward and took the shirt out of Neville's mouth and draped it over his chest to conserve his body heat. She had come to learn that it could become very cold in the cell that she had been living in.

**A/n: Don't hate me! Please! I needed someone to be in with Hermione, and I thought of Neville, and it kinda seemed perfect…**

**Don't hate me!**

**Review and all that jazz, pretty please**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/n: This is a Hermione-now-including-Neville chapter, and Death Eaters might, emphasis on **_MIGHT, _**come in, so here is my little warning.**

**Disclaimer: It's 2am, I have Theater Camp tomorrow, and I'm too tired to make a witty disclaimer. So, I'm not J.K Rowling.**

Hermione couldn't sleep. She had no idea how long she had been in her personal prison of hell, but what she _did _know was that she had barely slept throughout her long stay. She didn't feel comfortable lying down on the cold stone, and she most defiantly didn't feel safe. Hermione felt that if she fell asleep she would be vulnerable for one of the creepy Death Eaters to come in and be all cruel while she slept. Having Neville lying unconscious next to her didn't help. Hermione wanted to know everything that was happening outside her stone chamber, and was seriously thinking about shaking him wake.

Hermione had been watching Neville very closely, waiting for any sign that showed that he was about to wake up, like an eye-twitch or an arm-flinch, but she saw nothing so far. She felt so thankful to see a familiar face, or a face and not a sinister Death Eater mask. If felt good to see someone else's flesh, even if it was her friend who was now being held captive with her.

Hermione was about to shake Neville awake when she finally saw him shiver a little, probably from the cold, stone floor. She looked down at him and quickly crawled over to his side. Hermione was leaning over Neville's face when he opened his eyes, surprising Hermione. She let out a little gasp, while Neville yelped loudly, not expecting to see Hermione. She quickly backed away from him, and Neville shot upwards into a sitting position.

"So, that wasn't a dream?" Neville asked, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"Nope." Hermione said.

Then, Neville seemed to look at Hermione, really look. He saw how bruised her arms and legs were, how dirty her face was, how bloody her clothes were, how she had huge bags under her eyes. Hermione was also so skinny that Neville thought that she was made of skin and bones. He could see her ribs jutting out from under her clothes.

"Crap, Hermione. No offense, but you look horrible," Neville said with a sheepish grin.

"I've been kidnapped, beaten and abused for I don't know how long. Sorry for not worrying about my appearance," Hermione replied while rolling her eyes.

"It's been almost a month," Neville said sadly, trying to stay away from the topic of Hermione's torture.

"Really? It's felt longer…" Hermione trailed off. She thought that it had been years, not a month.

"I would guess that it would," Neville said, "We've all missed you."

Hermione felt a small smile tug at the ends of her mouth. "I've missed everyone more than they could imagine. I've missed you, and it's great to see you, but why are you here? What happened?"

"Erm… well I was on my way to the Burrow. I didn't want to apparate, because it was a really nice day, and I guess there were Death Eaters watching me or something, because one minute I'm walking along the path, and the next there are three masked-Death Eaters pointing wands at me. Soon, I was on the ground and they were all laughing. They took me here, and they must be idiots because they forgot to take my wand, so I started shooting random spells and jinxes everywhere, hoping to hit someone, but one of the spells ended up hitting me and disarming me. I have no idea where my wand went… that kinda sucks… Anyway, they ended up cursing me, with the _Crucio_, and a different spell that ended up cutting me. Then, I got shoved in here, and you know the rest." Neville replied.

"Quite a story… why were you going to The Burrow?" Hermione asked.

Neville looked around, as if looking for anyone who might eavesdrop, as if someone else was in the room. "I can't say."

"Why?"

"It's a big secret."

"Who the hell am I going to tell? The pile of dirt named Wilson?" Hermione asked sarcastically.

Neville rolled his eyes, but couldn't hide the small smile twitching at the tips of his lips. "_I_ barely even knew what was going on. And as you can tell, there's a really loud echo in this place, you never know who might hear."

"Yeah, I've noticed. Can't you whisper it or something? I've gone a month without a scrap of news!" Hermione exclaimed, reminding herself of Harry in their fifth year.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, but I can't say!"

"Can't you whisper? Or write it?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"Write it with what?"

Hermione looked over at her wand, that she had put in the corner after making the thread, needle, and alcohol disappear, nonchalantly. "Remember when you said those Death Eaters are idiots?"

"Yeah," Neville responded expectantly.

Hermione stole a glance toward the door, then moved closer to Neville so she could whisper in his ear, "I still have my wand."

Neville let out a loud gasp. "WHAT? What are you still doing here, then? Why haven't you escaped? Why haven't you beaten those idiot-Death-Eater's asses?"

"Language, Neville," Hermione warned with a small smile, "I've tried, God knows I've tried. I can't get out of this room, it's impossible. I've tried to run away, and that didn't work well either. I don't want to get into the details, but lets just say these people don't like it when you try to escape."

Hermione didn't fail to notice that Neville's smile faltered for a fraction-of-a-second. "Well? Go get it!"

Hermione got up and walked over to her wand, then walked back to Neville and sat down beside him. Then, she waved her wand and a piece of parchment and quill appeared on the stone floor in between the duo.

"Write!" Hermione whispered, not wanting her voice to echo through the cell.

Neville quickly picked up the quill and started writing. Hermione tried to look over his shoulder to see what he was writing, but couldn't get a good look. He finally finished writing, and handed the parchment to Hermione.

_There was a huge fight in Diagon Alley. Death Eaters were fighting the Order, innocent civilians were killed and tortured. It was also around Hogwarts-shopping time, so lots of children died. It was horrible. Ginny captured a Death Eater and took him into questioning. Mr. Weasley found out that the Death Eaters were going to have a meeting. The Weasleys got a group of people together, surviving Order members, D.A, Aurors that we trust, and the group would go and ambush the Death Eaters. I was on my way to The Burrow to join the group and go and ambush, when I was captured. Now I'm here._

Hermione's eyes got wider with each word she read.

"Burn it." Neville commanded, not wanting anyone else to read it. Hermione quickly rose her wand and burned the parchment, then made the quill disappear. Finally, she placed her wand in one of the corners again.

"That explains mostly everything, well everything that's important," Neville said, purposely not telling Hermione about how Ron had run away.

"Merlin… a lot has happened," Hermione said in awe.

"That was only in the past two days. Everything else was… depressing. People were out looking for you everyday, Harr- uh… Mr. P was out looking everyday all day. It was kind of boring but that's what we did." Neville said, trying not to say Harry's name in case anyone was listening.

Hermione seemed to have caught on, because she nodded slightly. "I'm sorry I put everyone through that. How's Ron?" Hermione said, whispering her last question. She didn't want anyone to go after Ron next, so not letting Death Eaters hear her mention him might help.

"Not to good."

"That's all you're going to say?"

"Yep."

"Something happened, right?"

"Yep."

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not."

"You're so annoying!"

"Deal with it. You're gonna have to live with my annoying-ness for a while." Neville said as he crossed his arms and scowled at Hermione.

"Fine." Hermione replied, mimicking Neville's arm-crossing-and-scowl.

They both glared and scowled at each other, but a few seconds later they both broke out into huge smiles, then laughs. They both ended up giving each other huge, gigantic bear hugs.

"It's so amazing to see you," Hermione said with her arms still around Neville, "Even if it _is_ a horrible circumstance."

"Tell me about it," Neville replied while rolling his eyes and backing away from Hermione, then sitting down against the wall. Hermione fallowed suit, and sat down next to him.

Before Hermione could reply, the duo heard the metal door creak slowly open. Hermione felt Neville flinch beside her and move slightly toward the corner that held her wand. Hermione quickly grabbed Neville's forearm to stop him from giving the Death Eater any hint of the wand. Neville seemed to stop inching toward the wand, so Hermione loosened her grip on his arm slightly, but still holding Neville in his place.

The door finally opened up wide and a Death Eater walked inside, mask and all.

"Well, mudblood's got a friend." the Death Eater said. Hermione recognized the voice as the voice of the evil female Death Eater who had tossed her against a wall and knocked her out.

Hermione felt Neville start to shake with anger. She knew that Neville hated the word 'mudblood' with as much hatred as Ron hated it. Hermione tightened her grip again, and held onto Neville tighter.

"Ooooh, not friend. Mudblood's gotta boyfriend," the Death Eater teased when she saw Hermione holding onto Neville's forearm.

Hermione rolled her eyes, but didn't let go of Neville. "Sure, _that's_ it." Hermione replied sarcastically.

"Don't you _dare_ talk back to me." the Death Eater replied, strangely reminding Hermione of her mother.

"How 'bout you make me?" Hermione said coldly. Before she knew what happened, Hermione was screaming and sprawling on the floor, and Neville was screaming at the Death Eater.

"Neville! Stop!" Hermione screamed once the pain of the curse wore off.

Neville turned his head from the Death Eater's direction to Hermione's, who was still on the floor. Then, a flash of bright red light illuminated the small cell, and Neville was hit with a _Crucio. _

_Shit, _Hermione thought. She didn't want Neville to get hurt. Hermione felt so naive to think that Neville wouldn't be hurt and only Hermione would be. It killed her inside to think of Neville, sweet, innocent Neville, getting cursed.

"What do you want to know this time?" Hermione asked as she started to stand up, using the wall to support her.

"Where is Potter?" the Death Eater asked harshly. She turned all her attention toward Hermione and away from Neville, totally forgetting that he was there.

"I have no idea." Hermione answered with more strength and confidence then she actually had.

"That's a lie. We know you've been in contact with those blood traitors."

"If I was in contact with them, they would have already been here to rescue me." Hermione bluffed.

The Death Eater seemed to be contemplating Hermione's answer, as if she was actually believed that Hermione had never sent the two Patronuses. **(A/N: Is the plural of Patronus Patronuses? Not exactly sure…)**

"Maybe they just don't want to rescue you. Maybe, they actually hate you, and want you gone, so they aren't making an effort. Maybe, you're just not that important."

Hermione's eyes widened, feeling like she had read her mind. Hermione had thought that no one wanted to rescue her. It was one of her fears when she had been thrown into the cell. She felt her breathing stop short.

"Oh, so you did think that? Well, if you ask me, no one wants you back. No one wants you to come home. No one wants you at all." the Death Eater pressed on when she saw that she was getting to Hermione.

"They all hate you. Everybody hates you. You're just a frizzy-haired know-it-all who everyone hates and no one wants." The Death Eater started walking towards Hermione, and grabbed her from around the throat, pinning her to the wall.

Hermione felt tears starting to form in her eyes. All of the childhood bulling is coming back to her. The verbal teasing and taunting that made her want to hide under her bedcovers and never leave her room.

"And you know it's true. You know that you're just a stupid, ugly girl that everyone hates. I bet this stupid boy hates you, and is just faking about being so happy to see you. I bet that he hates you, like everyone else in your goddamn life."

Neville looked up when she mentioned him, finally noticing what the Death Eater was saying.

"Don't listen to her, Hermione! I don't hate you! You're my best friend, I love you!" Neville yelled.

Hermione looked down at Neville, and felt a small smile spread across her lips. Her smile quickly disappeared with the Death Eater shot a spell towards Neville, making him scream out in pain. Then, the Death Eater pushed Hermione harder against the wall, and got so close that Hermione could smell her vanilla perfume.

"You're a worthless piece of trash. Look at you! You're pathetic!" she exclaimed. Hermione could smell the Death Eaters horrible breath through her mask, and tried to turn away, but couldn't because of the hand that was still on her throat, pinning her to the wall.

After what felt like years of the Death Eater yelling insults at her and pinning her to the wall, Hermione felt the hand leaver her throat. She sank to the floor, feeling tears falling down her cheeks. Hermione looked over at Neville and saw that he was unconscious. The Death Eater had cursed him more than a few times while verbally abusing Hermione. Before leaving the cell, the Death Eater turned to Hermione and sent a _Cruciatus Curse_ her way before telling her that she was hated by all. She slammed the door loudly, leaving Hermione sitting down against the wall, throbbing in pain and crying over all the horrible verbal insults she had gotten.

Hermione was back to the horrible silence that she couldn't handle. The only noise was her own and Neville's breathing. The silence was killing her, because it left her to her own thoughts, and all she could think about was that the Death Eater was right; everyone did hate her, and that's why they weren't looking for her. Hermione felt the tears come faster down her face as she cried harder. All she wanted was to leave, but she could see how she couldn't do that. Hermione laid down on the stone floor, shivering and freezing, and tried to fall asleep. After what felt like hours, Hermione's tears finally stopped falling and she fell asleep to the silence of her cell.

**A/N: Did anyone get my Cast Away reference? **

**Does anyone have any idea where Neville and Hermione are being held captive?**

**Any guess for the female Death Eater?**

**Any guesses for anything in general?**

**Review and all that jazz, please!**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/n: Sorry it's so short! Also, in case anyone gets confused, it's from the female Death Eater's POV.**

**Disclaimer: You'd think I wouldn't have to say this after 20 chapters (Now 21)…**

_I knew I was lying. The stupid mudblood was loved by all, but I also knew she believed everything I was telling her. Everything about how no one likes her and how everyone wants her dead was all a lie, even though she believed it. I don't exactly understand how she could possibly believe a word that came out of my mouth, but she did. _

_I had the stupid mudblood pinned up against the stone wall, and I was yelling lie after lie at her. I saw tears starting to form in her eyes, but I didn't stop. I learned long ago not to think of tears as a sign that you've gone to far, it's a sign that you are just about to go as far as you need to go to get what you want. _

_"… I bet this stupid boy hates you, and is just faking about being happy to see you. I bet he hates you, like everyone else in your goddamn life."_

_"Don't listen to her, Hermione! I don't hate you! You're my best friend, I love you!" screamed the pudgy boy who was laying on the stone floor beside me. I glared over at him, for he was only proof that what I was saying was lies. I felt anger boil inside me. Everyone loved the perfect little mudblood, and no one loved me. I saw that the mudblood had begun to smile, so I shut the pudgy blood-traitor up. I sent the electric shock spell his way. I watched as he screamed and the mudblood started to cry._

_I kept telling her how the world hates her, but I didn't believe it. The world loves her and hates me, and that's why I wanted to get rid of her. Then, the love of my life would love me again, and everything would go back to normal. He would see that I'm worthy of him, because I was doing the same thing he wanted to do and dreamed about doing. He had always talked to me about how he wanted to rid the world of mudbloods, and I was helping. He'd see that he made a big mistake by letting me go, and someone would finally love me, someone in the world would finally love me. _

**A/n: I'm very interested as to who you guys think the girl Death Eater is now. Please let me know! Review and all that jazz**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/n: I'm sorry it's been so long! I went on vacation for a few days, and I didn't have Wifi at my hotel, and when I left this chapter wasn't finished. So, when I came back I had to finish it… but I didn't, because two days later I went on **_another _**vacation, and I was still jet lagged from the first one! So, I finished this chapter while I was at the beach. Please forgive me for the long wait!**

**If it makes you forgive me faster, I can tell you that this chapter is SUPER long **_**and**_** filled with drama **_**and**_** fighting! **

**Disclaimer: -insert sigh here- I wish I owned the world of Harry Potter, but that belongs to J.k Rowling. **

Everyone was waiting on Neville. All the Weasleys, including Harry, more than a few trusted Aurors, and Minister Shacklebolt. It was 10:30pm, and Neville was an hour and a half late. Everyone was waiting for him at The Burrow, but he didn't seem to be coming. They understood if he was ten or twenty minutes late, but an hour and a half is a long time, even for Neville. They were getting worried.

"I guess we should just start without him," Harry said with a sigh.

Mr. Weasley looked toward the door once more before beginning to explain the plan that he, Charlie and Bill had created. He explained how they would arrive at Quaker forrest at 11pm, and would make sure to spread themselves out and get as close to the center of the forrest without being able to be seen. Everyone would also have a partner who they would stick to like glue.

"And the partners are as fallowed: Ginny and Kingsl- sorry, Minister Shacklebolt, Bill and Charlie, Percy and Auror Audrey Smith, George and Ron-"

Everyone turned their heads toward George, who had let out a small groan.

"Is everything okay, George?" Mr. Weasley asked, looking suspiciously at George.

"Flippin' freaking' dandy," George grunted through gritted teeth. He looked angry, angrier than anyone had ever seen him. His arms were crossed tightly over his chest and his eyes were openly glaring toward Ron.

Ron looked like he was going to throw up.

"Umm, moving on… Harry will be with Auror Mandy McNillon, and I will be with Auror Duncan Richards." Mr. Weasley looked up and saw that everyone was with their partners, except for Auror Hannah Abbot, who would have been Neville's partner. "Hannah, you can join Ginny and Kingsl- sorry again, Minister Shacklebolt."

Hannah smiled sweetly at Mr. Weasley, then walked over towards Ginny and Kingsley.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had only agreed to let Ginny go if she was partnered with the most capable wizard in their group. They didn't want it to be Harry, in case of any distractions, or Ron, in case of any loud bickering, which left Kingsley, who was more than capable. Also, adding an Auror to their group made Ginny even more protected, which made Mr. and Mrs. Weasley feel better for letting her go out into a huge fight.

Mr. Weasley looked toward the door once more, hoping to see Neville rush in and start explaining why he was late, but he didn't rush through the door. "I guess we should get going. Everyone will side-along apparate with their partner, so get going."

With a loud crack, all thirteen people apparated to Quaker Forrest.

XxXxXx

Ron and George touched down on the dirt-and-leaves forrest floor of Quaker Forrest after a few seconds of the violent twisting feeling of apparation. Ron pulled out his wand and did the _Point Me _spell, and his wand wizen around in his hand and pointed north. Ron started walking away from George and toward north.

"Still walking away, I see," George exclaimed, turning towards Ron, whose back was still turned toward George.

Ron stopped walking and turned around slowly to face George. "I never walked away from you!

"Was it just words to you when you said that we'd stick together, even in the rough times?"

"No, it wasn't. It wasn't _you_ who I was running away from, either."

"Then who was it?"

"Everyone. All the talk about Hermione, all the looks of pity everyone gave me. It was torture."

"You act like I never went through that, like I don't know how that feels. When Fred died, everyone looked at me like some sort of fragile piece of glass that would break if anyone mentioned Fred. It was crazy, but I didn't run away. I stayed, because we promised to stick together, but you obviously forgot about that. You left me, when you promised you wouldn't."

"I made that promise before Hermione got kidnapped."

"So you just made the promise so I wouldn't kill myself?"

"Well, I didn't exactly _want_ you to commit suicide! I would've said anything to stop you from putting that rope around your neck!" Ron exclaimed. He was talking louder than he would have liked, and suspected that the partners who were closest to the two brothers had heard him yelll at George.

George stared at Ron for what felt like years, but it could have only been seconds. The silence between the boys was louder than words. "So it was just words to you?" George asked, his voice dangerously quiet.

"Of coarse not. You're my brother, I'll stick through thick and thin, even when you don't want me around, I'll be there until the end."

"But you weren't! Plus, you didn't _just_ leave me, you left Harry. He thought he lost _both _of his best friends in the same month, and you didn't even care. You just walked out on everyone!"

"I was planning on coming back. I wasn't just going to pick up and leave forever," Ron replied, looking down at his shoes and feeling even more guilty.

"We. didn't. know. that. You just walked out after talking to Harry, scaring him half-to-death, without a word to anyone! You couldn't send an owl? Or a Patronus? Was that too hard for you to do?"

Ron didn't answer. He kept looking down at his shoes, feeling guiltier with every word that George said. He didn't send an owl or patronus because he didn't want to talk to anyone. He didn't talk at all when he ran away, and he was surprised that his voice still worked when he barged into The Burrow yelling about the fight at Diagon Alley.

Before George could say anything else, they heard a loud _crack. _George and Ron whipped their heads around toward the location that the _crack_ had come from, and they knew it was the sound of Death Eaters apparating to the center of the forest. There were more _cracks_ as more Death Eaters apparated to the forest, and George looked down at his watch, seeing that the time was 12:01am.

"Time to go." George said in his usual monotoned voice that everyone had gotten used to hearing from him. Ever since Fred died, George didn't have the spark in his voice that he used to have. George quickly used the _Point me _spell and started walking in the direction the wand pointed towards, leaving Ron behind him.

Ron sighed, still looking down at his feet, and fallowed George toward the center of the forest, toward the Death Eater's meeting.

XxXx

Percy and Auror Audrey Smith touched the solid forest floor at Quaker Forest. They were there for about two seconds when the duo realized that they were still holding hands from the side-along apparation, and Percy quickly pulled his hand away from Audrey's and put it in his pocket to grab his wand, while Audrey blushed slightly and pulled her hand up to push her hair behind her ears.

Percy did the _Point Me _spell with his wand, and started walking toward the middle of the forest, and toward the Death Eater meeting place.

"Where do you think _you're _going?" Audrey asked, throwing Percy a 'What-Do-You-Think-You're-Doing' look.

"Going to the meeting place…" Percy replied slowly while he kept walking away.

"Oh no, you're not! You have to wait until _after_ the Death Eaters arrive, or else they will kill you the second the apparate in and see you."

Percy stopped short and looked down at his shoes, blushing slightly because of his stupid mistake.

"You're not very experienced, are you?"

"I have little to no experience with dueling and such," Percy answered, feeling slightly ashamed because of how Audrey probably trained for years to be an Auror, yet alone being aloud to come on a mission as personal as the one they were on now, and all Percy had to do was be a Weasley.

"Well, lucky for you, I have _lots_ of experience."

"How can that be that lucky for me? You will not be fighting for me…" Percy said with a sigh as he turned back around towards Audrey.

"We have orders to stick to each other like glue, so I'll protect you." she replied with a small smile.

"Thank you," Percy replied, looking into Audrey's deep brown eyes while she looked into Percy's bright blue eyes. They looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds before breaking eye contact with a small blush on both of their cheeks.

"So," Audrey said after a few moments of awkward silence, "if you're not an Auror, but you're a Weasley, you must work behind a desk at the Ministry, right?"

"Yes, I am the Minister's assistant," Percy answered with a proud voice. Percy was very pleased with being the assistant to Minister Shacklebolt and never gave up and opportunity to boast about it.

"Oh," Audrey said, dragging out the 'O,' "so you're a _Ministry_-boy."

"Pardon? A… Ministry-boy?"

"Yeah, a Ministry-Boy. Ya' know, someone who obsesses over his Ministry desk job, worships the ground the Minister walks on… the kind of guy who would say that the Minister was right if he said that it was raining Hippos because there was no more water left in the world."

Percy quickly turned his head away from Audrey, so that he wasn't looking at her anymore. He was still guilty for choosing the Ministry over his family, even though the Weasleys had forgiven him long ago. Percy felt so horrible for making his family go through so much pain because of his obsession with the Minister.

"I am not that kind of man anymore." Percy said in a dangerously low voice.

"I'm sorry," Audrey immediately said, realizing quickly that she touched a nerve accidentally, "I only meant it as a joke. I didn't think it would bring up some sort of bad memory…"

"It is fine." Percy said, his voice turning back to normal as he looked up toward Audrey and sent her a smile.

"Wanna talk about it?" She asked as she sat down on a log and tapped to spot next to her, inviting Percy to sit next to her. Audrey loved helping people with their problems, and she wasn't to bad with giving advice either. She was a good listener too, and she knew that sometimes people just needed someone to listen to them.

Percy looked over at Audrey, who was looking up at him with a huge smile. No one had ever asked for his side of the story, or for him to explain himself. He didn't really mind much though, his side of the story also made him the bad guy, but it was still nice to have someone who actually wanted to listen to him. Percy smiled at Audrey, then sat down next to her.

"During the war, I got a job at the Ministry. It was not the best job, but I was proud of it, and so were my parents. Then, I got promoted and I was closer to the Minister, which was what I always wanted. It was great, until the Minister started insulting my family and Harry. At first, I did not believe anything he said, but I still did not stand up for my family. My job was more important to me than my family was, and I am not proud of that. The Minister kept saying such mean things about my family, and as time progressed, I started to believe him. So, I ended up getting into fights with my parents about if the Order was really the right thing to be involved in, or if they should really be helping Harry, of if Dumbledore was actually trustworthy and wise. I turned my back on my family and left them, I moved out, got a flat, and never talked to them.

"Then, the Battle at Hogwarts started. I heard about it while I was at the Ministry. I was sitting at my desk, and I heard the Minister talking to someone in his office. He was talking about how Voldemort would never lose, and how he will finally have power, and the whole Wizarding World will be pure once more. It was then when I realized the error of my ways, and how much of an idiot I was for choosing a stupid job over my family. I ran out of the Ministry and into Hogsmead, then straight into Hogwarts, where I found my family and explained myself. They forgave me instantly, like the amazing people they were, and we all fought alongside each other. It was great for the few minutes that it lasted, until my brother died, right in front of me. I left him, and everyone else, and before I got to know him again, he dies. What was even worse, was that I could have saved him."

"How could you have saved him? He was killed my a killing curse," Audrey interrupted.

"I could have jumped in front of him, 'taken the bullet for him,' as some muggles say," Percy replied, looking down at his lap.

**A/N:**


End file.
